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Jun 01, 2023

Trust marks 15 years of keeping Southlanders warm

You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image. Electricity Invercargill and the Southland Electric Power Supply established the Trust in 2008

You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image.

Electricity Invercargill and the Southland Electric Power Supply established the Trust in 2008 to drive a Southland-wide initiative to provide warm, insulated homes.

Trust chairwoman Lesley Soper said, in 2008, it was well recognised Southland was a region full of old, cold homes.

"Some visionaries [such as] Vaughan Templeton, Neil Boniface and others, felt something could be done about that, ma tou rou, ma taku rourou ka ora te iwi — with your food basket and my food basket, the people will thrive."

The Trust wanted to ensure Southlanders had more energy-efficient homes, improved living environments and improved health.

Research showed for every $1 spent on insulation for a low-income family, there was a $4.50 return on investment by reducing the number of people walking through hospital doors, she said.

Awarua Synergy chairman Bruce Pagan said insulating homes should be considered a long-term investment because the completed work did not stop with the present home’s occupant.

The Trust had worked with other organisations to install more than 1400 heat pumps or woodburners throughout Southland and West Otago.

Mrs Soper said it would have been impossible to reach the 15-year milestone without the original vision and founding trustees and funding support from Electricity Invercargill, Southland Power Trust, The Power Company, Southland’s councils, as well as Community Trust South, ILT and ILT Foundation. The Energy Efficiency and Conversation Authority had contributed more than $18 million.

"That’s all been a real and positive impact on thousands of lives in our communities — and we’re proud of that," she said.

The collaborative scheme targeted homeowners on low incomes or those living in pre-2008 homes in low socio-economic areas.

"Although funding structures have changed over time, our Trust’s vision of warmer, healthier homes endures," Mrs Soper said.

- By Toni McDonald