Bay of Plenty community leaders will gather in Whakatāne on Friday to learn how they can lay claim to a share of the Coalition Government’s $1.2 billion Regional Infrastructure fund.

The Bay of Plenty Regional Growth Summit, hosted by Regional Development Minister Shane Jones, is the third of 15 events throughout New Zealand to discuss regional priorities, aspirations and opportunities.

Mr Jones said the summits were an opportunity for discussions with iwi representatives, local government, business leaders and sector organisations, and to lay out the criteria for applying for the fund, accentuating that it was a co-investment fund.

“Not much of the money is available for grant funding,” he said.

“Most importantly, it is an opportunity for stakeholders to directly liaise with myself, ask, ‘okay, will it cover this? Will it cover that? What do we need to do on our side?’”

Mr Jones also wanted to find out how the Fast-Track legislation might be relevant to the Bay of Plenty.

“One of the things I get very cross about is the sluggish progress that our regional and local government makes in terms of allocating resource consents,” he said.

Whakatāne Mayor Victor Luca said he would be making a presentation on behalf of the Eastern Bay councils at the summit and making reference to the economic strategy being put together by economic development agency ToiEDA.

“At the moment we’re still talking in general strategic directions rather than specifics. I’ll be talking about what the Eastern Bay has in the way of resources. We are an agricultural, horticultural area.

"Ōpōtiki’s got aquaculture, we’ve got fishing, we’re also quite rich in energy resources. The Eastern Bay generates about 11 percent of the country’s energy by my calculation.”

Dr Luca also hoped to clarify whether the Regional Infrastructure Fund would offer funding through equity funding or loans.

“If it’s for projects that you’ve got to take out a loan on ... that’s not necessarily a solution for us.”

Mr Jones is being accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters.

Regional Development Minister Shane Jones will lay out the criteria for applying for the Regional Infrastructure Fund. Photo: RNZ.

They will spend the morning in Ōpōtiki for the opening of the Ōpōtiki Harbour rockwall to the public, before travelling to Whakatāne for the summit, being held at the Baptist Church on Keepa Road, from 1.30pm.

The Regional Infrastructure Fund, administered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s regional, economic development and investment unit, Kānoa, was announced in this year’s Budget and will be allocated over three years.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.