Below is an  Excerpt from Auckland Council Called:

 Weed control in West Auckland

“Titirangi Resident and Ratepayers Association Project (TRRA)

This project addresses a range of issues in the Titirangi Village business area including graffiti, kerbing, litter and the increasing presence of invasive weeds. The TRRA has worked with Council and other groups, including WeedFree Trust to make plans about how to overcome these issues.”

 According to this council excerpt it appears, Weedfree Trust (subsidiary of Ecomatters) –  with  founder , spokesperson and localboard member,  Neil Henderson and trustee   Mels Barton who is also Secretary of the Titirangi R&R  –  have used the  Weedfree money to address weed, kerbing and  litter issues in the trustees local  town of  Titirangi Village!   Where is the application form to apply for these projects from Weedfree?  Kerbing sounds more like streetscaping than weeds, so hopefully that was done by council, but where is the project breakdown.  Neither Titirangi R&R nor Weedfree have any public minutes or documentation  to show the projects that occur or how funding is allocated .    And Titirangi R&R have been struck off the Societies register for failure to put in annual accounts – so we have no idea what funding if any they receive.   There is no lists of projects.  or any fair or transparent application process in Council minutes or on the Weedfree site  for Weedfree projects.     As the trusts and charities make decisions outside of the public eye it is undermining community confidence and trust.  What is the pecuniary interest and benefits for the people involved? So moving forward and to be constructive about the issue:  we should move to a clear S.L.I.P.S  (small local improvement projects) programme for applying for local project requests like in other Auckland local boards. I strongly advocate for a publicly displayed S.L.I.P.S form for local projects being done in our area by council or trusts.     It would provide an equal opportunity for people to initiate projects, clearly showing how much they were given and for what, and a clear scoping of the project, including pictures of things like weed projects which have the potential for misuse.  Its a simple form to fill out.  We need more accountability and transparency around these projects. Local Small Project Initiation form examples from Waiheke below.   This is a larger typed project.  But some are just a simple A4 handwritten request on a form. SLIPS programme