A match fund aimed at small-to-medium sized neighbourhood projects is having the finishing touches applied before opening for applications.

The city council's community development fund is currently being tweaked ahead of the first round of funding, which is due to be approved next month.

It is hoped the two-tier kitty will attract interest from informal and grassroots neighbourhood groups who need help with community projects, as well as not-for-profit groups and communities of interest.

Up to $50,000 will be available across two funding rounds, ranging from $1,000 to $10,000.

Decisions on small grants will be known in a couple of weeks, while medium grants will take a couple of months. The first funding round closes on November 30.

Applications for larger amounts requires a legally constituted organisation to act as an umbrella organisation, able to receive and monitor the funds on behalf of an unregistered group.

Obtaining a match fund grant requires a 50 percent community contribution which can be in materials, valued at retail, professional services or labour. Professional services are to be valued at $100 an hour and, after some discussion, labour was set at the minimum wage plus 25 per cent.

Labour was originally to be valued at $16 an hour but councillors felt that might date during the lifetime of the fund.

Applications are initially one page in writing which, if they survive the screening process, are then developed for consideration by the community development team.

The intention of the fund is to provide a means to empower communities by positively connecting council and community, to generate innovative solutions for local issues and build a more resilient and self-sufficient community.

Mayor Stuart Crosby warned the fund is likely to be over-subscribed – as it was last time a similar small grants fund was run by the city council.

Stuart says a similar community fund for small projects was run in the mid-1990s, but was four or five times oversubscribed and only ran for a couple of years before being discontinued.

'The former councils were not overly supportive of local community development,” says Stuart.

'They were very supportive of network community development - parks and reserves etc - but not assisting small community groups.

'Some councils are very heavily involved in assisting community based groups, but we never have been. Since 1989 our focus has been on infrastructure, but this new council clearly wants to engage with community groups and is a firm believer in suburban community development.”

In the context of Tauranga City's $180 million operational budget, Stuart says the $50,000 match fund is important, but is a very minimal amount.