A $366,000 donation from the charterers of the Rena to four projects directly related to Motiti Island will be allocated by the island community.

Motiti Island residents will meet this month to coordinate distributing the donation – after receiving the money from the $1million Rena Recovery Fund last week.

Volunteers work to clean up mess scattered on Motiti Island following the Rena's grounding.

Island spokesperson Buddy Mikaere told SunLive he believes a hui will take place this month on the topic.

'As I understand it there is going to be a hui called, because we think there is some overlap between the groups asking for funding for the same kind of projects,” says Buddy.

'So what they're going to do is call a hui to try and coordinate that.”

The Rena Recovery Fund chair Chief District Court Judge Sir Peter Trapski says of the 85 applications received by the fund, which asked for total of $4million, four projects directly centred on Motiti Island.

'Three of the applicant groups reside on Motiti Island. The other was from Waikato University.

'Those four applicants jointly were seeking a total of $500,000,” says Peter.

'We considered each of the four applications in how they fitted in with the objectives of the donation made by the Mediterranean Shipping Company.

'The fact that all related to Motiti Island appealed to us, because this was probably suffered the most of any landmass.”

The recently announced $1million fund is a donation from Mediterranean Shipping Company – the charterers of the cargo ship Rena when it hit Astrolabe Reef on October 5, 2011.

Although MSC was not responsible for the operations of the ship when it grounded, its managing director of MSC (Aust) Pty Ltd, Kevin Clarke, says the company was concerned about the costs imposed on the community and donated $1million towards local organisations.

Peter says the fund's committee, which awarded $366,000 of the fund to Motiti Island projects, had no idea how to allocate the money in a way that would be most advantageous.

'So we asked people of the island to see if they could work that out themselves.

'We suggested a group be involved to assist if they couldn't work it out themselves – that's where it's left at the moment.”

Buddy says the main concern on the island is the impact on the marae itself.

'In a kind of an emergency like that, it just showed it needs upgrading in terms of its facilities and things. So I think that is what the main focus is going to be.”

Buddy says the marae's weaknesses were highlighted when it accommodated feeding people who were cleaning up the mess accumulating around the island.

'There is no mains power or things like that – so that is the kind of thing we will concentrate on.”

Peter says while three projects are associated with environmental enhancement, 'the other is for a re-build and update of the whare kai [food house] on the island, which was used extensively during the clean-up operations”.

'I understand it is quite badly in need of an upgrade.”

Asked if Motiti Island residents are pleased with the funding, Buddy says: 'Well, I should imagine, but I'm only going on a meeting I was at yesterday, and that only had a small representative group of the island as a whole”.

'They seem to be reasonably pleased, but again they feel some coordination is needed in how the funds are used.”

He says as much of the island's community as possible will gather to discuss the funding this month.