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Last modified: 29 Jul 2020 10:30am

A smiling grey haired woman in round glasses, wearing a black jacket, stands on a lawn in front of a brick building

Preserving our identity and the history that shapes who we are is a key part of the Council’s Heritage Fund.

The Heritage Fund is open for applications from Wednesday 1 to Wednesday 22 July for projects aimed at supporting the preservation of heritage buildings or trees in Selwyn.

Louise Deans of Homebush says the fund has been ‘wonderful’ in helping maintain the nine category one listed structures on the historic farm near Darfield.

Looking after the buildings is expensive and the fund is a key support in maintaining sites of huge value to the district and its identity, she says. “We have been extraordinarily grateful for the help it’s given us. Funding is the only way to keep our heritage alive and well maintained so we can say, ‘this is our history and who we are’. They’re our identity long term, because they often last longer than people and give an enormous amount of pleasure.”

The Heritage Fund has helped the family with restorations of an earthquake damaged well on the property, servicing a historic water turbine. The turbine was brought from Dayton, Ohio and installed in 1879. “It was the height of the industrial revolution really. You have to see it to believe it, because it involved an enormous amount of engineering for the water from the Waianiwaniwa River to be harnessed to run the turbine.”

The fund had also helped with maintenance of the historic woolshed, built in 1879 and one of the most well-known heritage buildings in the country, she said.

To apply for the Selwyn Heritage Fund visit the fund page, or for more information email heritagefund@selwyn.govt.nz