“Loss of Heritage EQUIP funding a blow” Historic Places Aotearoa / ICOMOS Media Release

The Government’s decision to discontinue funding for seismic strengthening of heritage buildings is a serious setback for owners, Historic Places Aotearoa president James Blackburne said today.
The decision not to extend Heritage EQUIP (Earthquake Upgrade Incentive Programme) funding past the end of June 2021 slipped through in the May Budget without arousing any media comment. “This cut is a major blow to heritage preservation as the fund had been making extremely worthwhile grants towards seismic strengthening of heritage buildings as required by the Building (Earthquake Prone Buildings) Amendment Act, 2016,” Mr Blackburne said.

ICOMOS NZ Chairperson, Pamela Dziwulska, agrees with HPA – “it’s an incredibly sad loss for built heritage in Aotearoa – buildings are at the forefront of everybody’s day to day experiences of their town centres, cities, and even rural settings. ....
Adaptation, using the right expertise, makes the most sense if the goal is to be sustainable and meet climate change targets. The government put these time limits on building owners who are acting as the kaitiaki, but have now taken away one of their main sources of monetary aid in order to protect and maintain Aotearoa’s cultural heritage for future generations.”

HPA executive member and Whanganui district councillor Helen Craig said Heritage EQUIP was revolutionary in that it funded private owners of buildings.
“It was one of the most effective, best-run and most-responsive funding mechanism I’ve seen.

The Media Release can downloaded at the following link:

Media-release-re-Heritage-EQUIP-2021-08-11Download

“Exposure draft for the Natural and Built Environments Act” Has Been Released (29 June 2021)

The RMA Reform Exposure Draft has been released.

Details etc can be found at the following link:
https://environment.govt.nz/what-government-is-doing/key-initiatives/resource-management-system-reform/about-the-exposure-draft/

The Ministry of the Environment has the following explanation:

"About the exposure draft for the Natural and Built Environments Act 

The proposed Natural and Built Environments Act (NBA) will be the main replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA) once enacted. It is central to the reform of the resource management system.

The Government has released an exposure draft of the NBA. The exposure draft is being presented  to Parliament and then referred to a select committee inquiry process."

"Opportunities for public feedback

There will be two opportunities for public feedback on the NBA as part of select committee processes.

"First opportunity for public feedback
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Heritage In The Budget 2021

From the Budget documents released:
New Policy Initiatives:
Hokitika Government Building: $22,000 (000)
Retain Core Capability of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga: $2,357 (000)
Strengthening and Adapting Turnbull House: $250 (000)

Under End of year Financial Reporting:
Heritage Equip - Continuation of Funding: 2020/21 Final Budgeted $370 (000)
Reasons for Change in Appropriation
The decrease in this appropriation for 2021/22 is funding is mainly due to the final year of Heritage Equip operating funding, and a reduction in revenue from others.

Under End of Year Performance Reporting:
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
20/21 Final Budgeted $18,970 (000)
2021/22 Budget $16,738 (000)
... The decrease in this appropriation for 2021/22 is due to:
one-off COVID-19 Response and Recovery funding of $2.357 million in 2020/21 for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga to retain its core capability in response to falling revenues and depleted reserves as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic ...