Media Release – Strengthening the Hilltops Region

Hilltops Council will this week submit its application to the Stronger Country Communities Fund that was established by the NSW Government to help deliver local infrastructure projects in regional communities.

The Hilltops LGA has been allocated just over $5 million through the fund and the projects included in the submission cover a range of sporting, cultural and community projects.

“Many community groups, sporting clubs and village progress associations have put their hand up for funding and have been working hard on their applications,” shared Mayor Brian Ingram.

“All community projects that provided their completed documentation in time will have their requests included along with those projects that Council on behalf of the community is keen to have funded.”

All applications for the fund had to be submitted through Council and Councillors were then asked to prioritise both the community and council projects.

“There has been plenty of rigorous debate on the prioritisation and amount of funding requested for the projects in the submission.”

“For the community groups applying, Council really just plays an administrative role in helping them to get their submissions in and the restrictions of the fund mean we can’t change the amount they are asking for,” said Mayor Ingram.

In total the submission will include 31 infrastructure projects across the Hilltops region totalling just under $10million. Once submitted, the State Government will determine the best allocation of the available funding.

“There is still a long way to go with assessment of our application at the next level. Our local members will have a say and then it is reviewed against a range of criteria.”

It is expected that successful projects will be announced in August.

After an unprecedented demand for funding last year’s round of the Stronger Country Communities Fund, an additional $100 million for local sports infrastructure has been added to this years round. This means in 2018 a total of $200 million will be invested in local sports and amenity projects across NSW.