New sustainability projects coming to Upper Hutt

Published on 02 May 2022

Bee gathering pollen from flax flower

Our new Sustainability Stimulus Grant has been overwhelmed by a positive response from the community in its inaugural year.  

The Grant programme of $100,000 per year, designed to support initiatives that will reduce the city’s overall emissions profile and aid in supporting our sustainability goals, is being trialed for three years following consultation with the community in 2021.  

We received 19 applications for the grant, with a total $413,934.39 funding requested, seeing the Grant oversubscribed by over 400% and demonstrating the need for such a fund in the community.  

Seven projects received funding to the value of $93,709, the remaining amount will be carried over into the 2022-2023 funding round. The successful applicants showed a wide range of positive outcomes across our Sustainability Strategy goals.   

The projects that received funding include: 

  • Indigenous forest restoration and predator control
  • Water infrastructure to reduce reliance on the potable water supply
  • A food programme expanded to become a circular initiative and incorporate gardens and composting systems
  • An initiative to engage and motivate communities to participate in ‘Growathons’ and grow plants for climate action and adaptation outcomes.
  • Water storage to harvest rainwater and stop reliance on the potable water supply
  • Pest eradication programme
  • Centre of regenerative learning  

Hear from some of the successful applicants in the following video.

 

“We want to commend and celebrate the tenacity, drive and ambition of all the applicants. The calibre was extremely high” says Upper Hutt Mayor, Wayne Guppy. 

“This is a very significant path in our climate change area. We need to make sure these get good public exposure so that others see we a serious in supporting our community in this area and everyone can help, no matter what size of the project or type of project. This is a good news topic and an important topic” he says. 

A full list of successful applicants, details about their projects, and the amount of funding received is available here: upperhuttcity.com/SSGrant

The funding round for the second year of the programme open in October 2022.