A review into the Provincial Growth Fund has found communication could have been better as the fund was rolled out.
Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash speaks at Mihiroa Marae in Pakipaki today. Photo: RNZ / Tom Kitchin
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) was established in late 2017 to invest $1 billion per annum over three years in projects to raise the productivity potential of regional New Zealand.
It was targeted towards towns where there were pockets of above average unemployment and people not in employment, education or training.
The results of the independent evaluation report by consultancy firm Allen and Clarke were announced today by Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash, at Mihiroa Marae in Pakipaki, near Hastings.
The report said the PGF created over 8400 jobs.
Nash said it had "built communities".
"It was one of the main things that we were after, it enabled communities to have pride and a sense of optimism where perhaps that didn't exist in the past," Nash said.
But he also admitted there were flaws.
"This was a big fund, it was rolled out reasonably quickly and there are a lot of projects that applied for funding, and so I'm not making excuses in any way shape or form because communication obviously could've been a lot better but the team at the then Provincial Development Unit was under a little bit of stress to roll things out.
"For some projects we could've taken a slightly longer time frame and for a number of projects we could've communicated with key stakeholders a little bit better than we did."
The rush was due to an "ambitious government", he said.
He cited a report by sociologist Paul Spoonley, which referred to zombie towns across New Zealand.
"We did not want to see that as a reality, so we wanted to get money out the door" Nash said.
"We could've been a little bit better in providing updates in terms of where we were in the process and then once the project had been successful or not we could've been a little bit better in communicating that.''
The report also found that some tangata whenua were challenged, and at times distressed, by what they perceived as economic agendas that did not consider other equally important values.
Furthermore, there was evidence that the PGF could have unintentionally reinforced existing inequities.
Nash said that would change in the new Regional Strategic Partnership Fund, offering $200 million to support the regions.
"The framework we work under now means there is a high degree of interaction and communication with local Māori," he said.
"It's about understanding the processes that Māori have to go through which are often quite different than other organisations have to go through in terms of getting funding and it's recognising that sometimes these processes take a little bit longer than we're used to and therefore that's been built in to the Regional Strategic Partnership Funds processes."
Mihiroa Marae in Pakipaki received nearly half-a-million dollars from the Provincial Growth Fund Photo: RNZ / Tom Kitchin
Marae funding
Mihiroa Marae had some significant renovations, funded by $480,000 from the PGF.
Mihiroa Marae's former chairman Jason Roberts said despite the criticism of the government, he said the funding was "greatly received".
"I do feel heartfelt for our government ... we're totally in support of our government."
Mihiroa Marae's former chairman Jason Roberts Photo: RNZ / Tom Kitchin
The nearly half-a-million-dollars was used for painting, roof replacement except for the whare whakairo (meeting house), new flooring, new bathrooms, new manuhiri (visitor) shelters and seats, he said.
Before the renovations, the flooring in the whare kai (dining room) was in a bad condition.
"The vinyl, it was bubbling, it was actually cracking, it was becoming a trip hazard, health and safety here is paramount for our young ones, especially our kaumatua."
