Onepu Park. Photo / Laura Smith
It is a lofty goal.
To publicly raise up to $2 million by October 13 to buy a 72-hectare park in order to retain it for public use.
But it is a goal that is one step closer this week after Eastern Bay Community Foundation offered Save Onepu Community Park use of its bank account to hold funds.
Onepu Community Park, near Whakatāne, is on 72ha of privately owned land, 60ha of which is planted in radiata pine. It has been used for mountain biking, walking and other activities by the public.
Earlier this year, Norwegian pulp and paper company Norske Skog sold the property. The new owner put the property back on the market a few months later and said it would be closed to the public from mid-October.
Save Onepu Community Park is fundraising to buy the park to keep it in public use.
Campaign spokeswoman Sarah van der Boom said the goal was to raise enough money to buy the site outright, approximately $1.8 million to $2m, by October 13.
"If Kiwis can buy a beach in Tasman Bay, why can't we buy a community park in Onepu?
"Having the fund being held by the community foundation will mean we can leverage other funding as well."
Eastern Bay Community Foundation chairman Scottie McLeod said the foundation was providing use of its bank account to hold funds for Save Onepu Community Park fundraising.
Foundation executive officer Rosemary Sloman said the account would initially be as a "pass-through fund", meaning the foundation would hold funds on the community's behalf until the community was ready to make a bid on the site.
"We (the foundation) have been looking at several projects and this is really timely. We've been building our resource over the past 10 years to the point where we're starting to make a difference. This just seemed a really good way for us to provide a vehicle for this to be successful."
Sloman said if the purchase bid was successful, a long-term endowment fund could be started for the Park to fund maintenance and facilities.
The bank account is a separate account from others, so all funds will be easily tracked and traced, and be provided with a tax-deductible donation receipt, she said.
Van der Boom has been the first to put her money where her mouth is with a $1000 donation.
She said if the foundation was not successful in its tender for the park, the donations could be returned to the donors.
If the tender was successful, the foundation would own the park as an asset of the fund which is owned by Onepu Charitable Trust.
Van der Boom said going through the foundation was beneficial because some fundraising websites took cuts for admin fees and donations were not tax deductible.
Onepu Community Park has established trails for mountain bikers, a restored wetland, arboretum and donated artwork. It is popular with dog walkers and wheelchair accessible.
The park has been subject to thousands of hours of volunteer work, funding from charitable trusts and investment from the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
Donations can be made directly to 38-9016-0292432-06, with Onepu Park in the particulars and code 34/22. The donors name can be entered as a reference.
Donors are encouraged to email their contact details to support@easternbaycommunityfoundation.nz to ensure the receipting process is simple and swift.
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