After years of discussion and recent negotiations Community Trust South and Otago Community Trust have agreed and received Government approval for an alteration to their common boundary.

The new boundary adjustment extends the Community Trust South area to include the portion of the Southland District up to Awarua Point the northern boundary of Fiordland and extends the area within Queenstown Lakes District to include the whole of the Queenstown Ward area.

Community Trust South chair Trish Boyle said trustees and staff were delighted to finally see the Milford area up to Awarua Point and Paradise come within the Community Trust South boundary.

“The main reason that Community Trust South sought a change to the boundary is to regularise what most people probably think is already the case that Milford, with its link to Southland, is already part of our area,” Boyle said.

The specified areas of each community trust across New Zealand were set when each of the trusts were established in 1988 and at that time were reflective of the operating area of each of the predecessor Trustee Savings Banks.

Community Trust South general manager Jackie Flutey said the specified area of a community trust was the geographic area within which the Trust focussed its funding support. 

“Our team deal with many agencies and organisations within lnvercargill, Te Anau and Southland relating to activities in Milford, we have always deemed it quite unusual to have to explain that Milford was not part of our granting area.”

“We are obviously rapt to finally see these areas come within our Community Trust South boundary. They are truly a part of communities we work alongside already."

Otago Community Trust chair John Wilson said the proposed boundary change had been discussed at various points over the last 15 years between the two community trusts.

“The main barrier to progressing any boundary alteration was that the legislation did not allow it, however the law changed to allow boundary changes in 2016,” Wilson said.

TSB Community Trust and the Whanganui Community Foundation have recently successfully changed boundaries, providing the impetus for Community Trust South and Otago Community Trust to begin discussions again.

Mr Wilson said community consultation undertaken by both trusts overwhelmingly supported the boundary change proposal. It had allowed the tidying up of a number of other minor areas along the boundary to align with the current district and ward boundaries.

“The boundary agreement did not include any transfer of funds between the two Trusts, as the resident population in the areas affected was not significant.”