Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall has been very busy with the chequebook of late, sprinkling announcements of government grants across the electorate.
Most of the grants are coming from the NSW Stronger Country Communities Fund, a large fund of cash specifically for grass roots level projects that boost services and infrastructure in regional areas. Since it was introduced in 2017, the fund has distributed more than half a billion dollars to over 2500 projects across the state’s regional communities.
Earlier in the election season, Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole announced that, if re-elected, they would add a further $90 million to the fund, taking it to three quarters of a billion dollars. The Stronger Country Communities Fund is part of the larger $3.3 billion Regional Growth Fund, designed to “support growing regional centres, activate local economies and improve services and community infrastructure in the regions”.
“We aren’t just building playgrounds and sporting ovals, we’re building communities to be proud of,” Mr Toole said.
There are lots of other buckets of money that local groups and businesses can benefit from. The Glen Innes Golf Club were granted $243,405 to undertake major earthworks and ensure they can tee off in any weather conditions from the NSW Essential Community Sports Asset Program. An $88,296 grant to Gravesend Public School to expand their covered outdoor learning area (COLA) came from the general Infrastructure Grants program. And $9000 for more community programs at the Bank Art Museum in Moree came from the NSW Rescue and Restart Fund. All those grants were announced last week.
Also last week Mr Marshall announced:
- A further $892,000 for upgrades at the Moree Artesian Aquatic Centre
- $170,959 for a new amenities block and a shelter to protect boats at Malpas Dam
- $100,000 for the Friends of McMaugh Gardens (the aged care facility in Uralla) to refurbish rooms and improve accessibility
- $966,964 for an upgrade to the Walcha Skatepark
- $247,000 for the Armidale Folk Museum to create more office space and improve accessibility
- $332,710 to the Glen Innes Aquatic Centre to do some maintenance and make the pool more energy efficient
- $525,591 for the Moree based youth service Miyay Birray to construct a new large building on its Endeavour Lane site
- $517,833 to the UNE Smart Region Incubator for their new Inland Innovators Project
- $772,750 for additional lighting along the bike path that connects UNE to the Armidale CBD
Total grants announced by Adam Marshall for the past week, assuming we didn’t miss any, is $4,866,508.
That’s $695,215 a day, $28967 an hour, or $483 per minute.
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