Strong growth from community groups means about half the Tasman residents who asked for council community grants this year will have their requests denied.

The $408,380 applied for far exceeds the council’s $184,000 grants budget.

The council received a record 158 submissions before the application cutoff date on August 31. That is 21 per cent more applications than last year and a 23 per cent increase in funds requested.

Community recreation adviser Mike Tasman-Jones said it was impossible to say how many applicants would have requests granted before the committee had gone through the submissions on October 3.

Applicants would be sent letters advising whether or not they would receive a payout around October 19.

‘‘I suppose the committee is going to have a look at whether they can give some of those applicants partial support or whether it will come down to declining some and approving others,’’ said Mike.

Mr Tasman-Jones thought the rise in applications might have been influenced by the economic situation, but he also said the Tasman district’s community sector was strong – and growing.

‘‘We get a lot more applications to community awards than anyone else by a long way,’’ he said, citing last month’s TrustPower Community Awards.

The Nelson and Tasman region had put forward 134 submissions for the award, and TrustPower community relations representative Teresa Partridge said the average number for a region was about 45.

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