Rangitikei District Council

The project partners behind the Marton and Surrounds ICT Hub have agreed to establish an independent charitable trust to own and manage the project now that it is almost up and running.

The project is a partnership between ICENZ Limited, Project Marton, Lynx Computing, Rangitikei College, Rangitikei District Council and Te Runanga o Ngati Apa. The aim is to establish computer centres in Marton and Rātana that will support local people to access the internet by:

• Providing facilities that are open to the public, at specified times and at an affordable rate,
• Working with local training providers to bring an appropriate share of government and other funding programmes addressing basic computer literacy training into the area,
• Ensuring support is available during public opening times so those with limited experience and confidence can still access the facility (Where the need is beyond the scope of the support available on site, the project will signpost individuals to appropriate training providers and existing training provision),
• Supporting local businesses and community organisations to identify how ICT can meet their needs and working with them to develop appropriate activities and training at the centres.

The project will initially develop two computer centres: one in Marton and one in Rātana, each with six workstations. Future plans include an addition of a suite of laptops to develop a mobile facility. In Marton, refurbishment of the back room at the Library on High Street is almost complete and the centre will be open for initial taster sessions from April 2010. The centre is expected to be open from July 2010.

In Rātana, the project has identified a preferred premise for the computer centre and over the next few weeks, partners will work with the local community, the landlord and local training providers to develop the building for public use.

The partners have secured funding from Community Partnership Fund (managed via the Department of Internal Affairs), JBS Dudding Trust, Whanganui Community Foundation and Rangitikei District Council, amounting to about $230,000 in total. Almost $80,000 of this will be spent on refurbishment and state-of-the-art equipment and the remainder will be used to fund operating costs for the next 2 ½ years.

The operating costs include an allocation to contract one or more part-time outreach workers to develop activities at the computer centres.  Expressions of interest will be sought from people who have experience of community development, marketing and communication or teaching in its broadest sense.

For more information, contact Denise Servante on 06 327 0099 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it