Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan said Trustpower's amalgamation of the Clutha and Dunedin awards meant an awards ceremony would only take place in the district every other year, which had precipitated the council's move to revive its own, annual ceremony to mark local volunteers of note.
''It's a great opportunity Trustpower has given us over the years, and we applaud the new format. However, we're also excited to be able to run our own awards, acknowledging the contributions of our magnificent volunteers locally.''
Mr Cadogan said the tradition of civic awards in Clutha began further back than he could remember, but the associated ceremony had come under Trustpower's umbrella when it started its community awards scheme.
As the council had approved the new initiative only last week, details remained to be finalised.
''It's likely they'll be based on the civic awards of the past, with perhaps four recipients each year, and some new embellishments.
''We're very confident they'll go ahead, and expect them to take place during National Volunteer Week in June next year.''
Trustpower community and communications adviser Ashleigh Cleaver said amalgamating neighbouring districts for its community awards was being trialled this year, and would enable more money to be offered in prizes.
''We hope bringing neighbouring communities together in this way will allow for greater sharing of ideas, and increased excitement at our awards nights.''
Ms Cleaver said she was pleased to learn of Clutha's parallel initiative.
