Saturday, February 15, 2025

Car seat partnership clicks for Taranaki

New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) has joined with Downer Group NZ to hand over 30 car seats to Kidsafe Taranaki, a charitable organisation that provides car seat checks, installation and advice at regular, free clinics across the region.

NPDC Transportation Manager, Rui Leitao said it was great to see the community benefitting from the Council partnership with Downer.

“The partnership has a higher purpose, it’s not all about making money for shareholders. It’s about doing good things in the community too,” said Mr Leitao.

Through the New Plymouth Infrastructure Partnership (NPIP), Downer and NPDC work together on key infrastructure such as roads, parks and reserves, facilities maintenance, Three Waters and other major projects.

NPIP Contract Manager, Steve Chamberlain said whenever work come in under budget for the year, the remaining funds are split 50/50.

“Downer committed to donate roughly half of that 50% back to the community in what we call our gain share initiatives,” said Mr Chamberlain.

In the past, these initiatives have included donating bikes to schools, and providing traffic management services to community groups.

“We have certain criteria for these community initiatives and Kidsafe Taranaki was a good fit,” Mr Chamberlain said.

Kidsafe coordinator, Hokipera Ruakere-Papuni said the generous donation of car seats would make a real difference to the families who received them.

“It’s great to have the support of local businesses and council,” she said.

“We’re all on the same waka making sure our pepe are safe on the roads.”

Visit Kidsafe Taranaki’s Facebook page for details of its car seat clinics.

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