A flagship project of Auckland Council aimed at improving lives in poor south Auckland communities has hit trouble amid damaged relationships and an allegation of racism, Radio New Zealand reports.
The council has pruned back a funding increase for its Southern Initiative and is sending in its chief executive to help guide the ambitious project over the next few months.
The Southern Initiative aims to transform what are the country's poorest urban communities, re-directing existing government welfare, education and health spending into more effective locally-managed programmes.
General manager John McEnteer on Thursday asked the council for a 10-fold increase in the annual budget to nearly $2 million. Mayor Len Brown countered with an offer of just $500,000 more.
The meeting was told not all local boards back the project, and the chair of the council's Independent Maori Statutory Board David Taipari said some boards feel too many Maori are involved.
Radio New Zealand's Auckland correspondent Todd Niall said a clear explanation of what has gone wrong in the Southern Initiative is hard to find, but relationships appear to be a critical element.
The formula used when the project was set up two years ago was for a small team, with a modest budget of just $180,000 a year, to broker new ways of connecting taxpayer funding to community-based schemes.
