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Funding and grants

David Lean Memorial Mayoral Relief Fund

The Mayoral Fund process is currently under review, and applications are temporarily paused while this work is completed. No funding decisions will be made during this time, and we are unable to confirm when applications may reopen.

If you need support with essential living costs or urgent financial hardship, please contact Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ) in the first instance.

Requests received during the pause will be collated and responded to once the review is finalised and decisions about the fund’s future have been made.

This fund exists to provide assistance to families and individuals who are undergoing extreme financial hardship and awarded at the discretion of the Mayor.

Make a contribution to the fund

In 2025, New Plymouth District Mayor-elect Max Brough invited the wider community to make a contribution to the fund if they wished.

NPDC already contributes to the fund every year and will continue to do so as part of our ongoing commitment to the fund.   

Account details below: 

  • Payee Name:          New Plymouth District Council 
  • Account number:  15-3942-0000657-000

 

Apply for assistance from the fund

The David Lean Memorial Mayoral Relief Fund provides assistance for families and individuals in extreme need. 

All applicant's circumstances are unique.

Those seeking assistance from the fund need to demonstrate genuine financial hardship and have exhausted other available support options, such as Work and Income, or local food banks, and their immediate family.

Requests can be made all year round with decisions made at the discretion of the district Mayor of the day.

The fund was renamed in October 2025 to honour former New Plymouth Mayor, the late David Lean. 

About David Lean 

David 'Daisy' Lean was one of New Zealand’s youngest Mayors when elected New Plymouth Mayor at the age of 32, in 1980. He had been a councillor since 1977. 

During his tenure he advocated for a land-based wastewater treatment – which resulted in the New Plymouth Wastewater Treatment Plant that opened in 1984.

He was also part of a bold fundraising initiative that helped bring TSB Stadium and, what is now known as the Todd Energy Aquatic Centre, to life - the circumnavigation of New Zealand in inflatable rescue boats (IRBs).

He was Mayor until 1992 and later was a councillor on Taranaki Regional Council.

David Lean passed away in June 2025 at the 76.

Former New Plymouth Mayor David Lean

Page last updated: 08:52am Mon 24 August 2026

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