Community grants a trigger for community projects

• Kim McDonald, Anda Banikos and Yianni Banikos represented Prom Coast Arts Council Inc. at South Gippsland Shire Council’s Community Grants Round Two presentations held last Wednesday night. Cr Mohya Davies presented the group with Grant certificates representing funding for two of PCA’s events – the Double Take project and the upcoming Horse Arts Anzac event.

CHILLY temperatures weren’t enough to keep away the members and friends of local community organisations, groups and sporting clubs who gathered at the Council Chambers in Leongatha last Wednesday evening for the 2014/15 Community Grants Round One Presentation.

South Gippsland Shire Mayor Cr Jeanette Harding and Director Corporate and Community Services Jan Martin, welcomed representatives of the 37 community groups, each commenting that these presentations are always one of the most enjoyable of Council’s events.

Cr Harding said that these presentations are a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate what community organisations and their volunteers are doing.

Over the past 10 years, $2.7m has been allocated to the program, and in the 2014/15 year alone, close to $300,000 has been distributed to assist organisations in realising their goals.

Cr Jeanette Harding praised the efforts of the countless volunteers who work tirelessly for community organisations, congratulated them on their successful grant applications and urged community groups across the shire to make an application for 2015/16 Round One and Round Two Community Grants.

Both Rounds opened on July 1. Applications for Round One close on August 31 2015 and those for Round Two will close on March 31 2016.

The Mayor, along with fellow councilors Don Hill, Andrew McEwen, Lorraine Brunt, Moyha Davies, Nigel Hutchinson-Brooks, Jim Fawcett and Bob Newton, presented grant certificates in turn to successful applicants as follows:

• Foster Showgrounds Committee of Management (Section 86), – $7000 to carry out a Stadium Feasibility Study to provide practical design and upgrade solutions to ensure the stadium is user-friendly and sustainable for many years to come.
• Foster & District Historical Society Inc. – $4500 towards the installation of solar panels and an effective humidifier so that electricity bills will be reduced by approximately 50 per cent.
• Fish Creek Terrill Park Section 86 Committee – $5000 for the purchase of a new mower. volunteers mow this council-owned reserve as required, quite often on a weekly basis.
• Prom Coast Arts Inc. – $1600 for the DOUBLE TAKE project – a collaboration between artists and Foster traders which facilitated community participation in art by increasing the accessibility of quality artwork through window displays in the main street of Foster during the Prom Coast Seachange Festival.
• Prom Coast Arts Inc. – $3000 for Horse Arts Anzac – an event which will engage artists to assemble the artwork of 12 Art Horse Rugs to be displayed on horses ridden by descendants of members of the 8th Light Horse Regiment during the 2016 Foster Show Grand Parade. Prom Coast Arts Inc. will work with the Foster Historical Society and the RSL in researching the historical framework.
• Corner Inlet Boxing Club – $3600 for a boxing ring, an important piece of equipment enabling the club to get up and running, offering a safe and professional environment for participants.
• Bennison Adult Riding Group – $1500 for a wash bay which will provide a safe area for horses to be hosed down and will improve the overall facilities at the Bennison Recreation Reserve. It is hoped that by improving facilities there will be an increase in new members for both the Bennison Adult Riding Club and the Corner Inlet Pony Club which is also located within the reserve.
• T P Taylor Reserve Committee of Management – $8000 towards the installation of an 10kw solar panel system at the Sandy Point Community Centre.
• Port Welshpool Working Group – $3500 to assist in staging the Sea Days Festival 2016 – an event organized with the philosophy of providing a free, family-friendly event which promotes the unique natural environment of Corner Inlet and celebrates what it means to live in South Gippsland.
• Friends of Toora Heritage Pear Orchard Inc. – $2250 for the fourth annual Pear/Pair Party – an event which provides a relaxed and fun family day for the local community, and tourists to the area.
• Toora Swimming Pool Committee – $2550 for a new ride-on mower. This will be a replacement for the 17-year-old mower which only just managed to survive the last summer season.
• Toora Village Artist Collective – $1000 for strong and more stable picture hanging systems for the artworks in the gallery.
• Australian Volunteer Coast Guard Port Welshpool – $5000 towards a larger vessel (and associated costs) to help provide more effective rescue services to the local boating community.
• Indigenous Local AFL Games Organising Group – $3000 to aid in facilitating Indigenous AFL Rounds for Alberton and Gippsland Leagues.
• Koonwarra Leongatha RSL Cricket Club – $10,000 for the redevelopment of cricket nets, which will involve the demolition of existing nets, earth works, power supply, laying of foundation slab, erection of external and internal net posts.
• Leogatha Golf Club – $5000 for a cart shed. Within the new all-abilities program, the club has many players with mobility impairments so access to carts is essential to their being able to play.
• Leongatha Netball Club – $10,000 to fund a feasibility which identified the necessary costings and implications of developing a full sized match court and training area.
• Leongatha Football Netball Club – $5000 to improve disability access at the club. This project came about as a result of the appointment of Beau Vernon to the position of senior coach at the Leongath Football Netball Club.
• Leongatha Knights Football Club – $1000 towards the replacement of the existing line marking machine which was nearing the end of its working life.
• Leongatha Girl Guides – $1275 for an upgrade the the Leongatha Guide Hall.
• Nerrena Recreation Reserve – $5000 to fund a fence, bollards and park bench seating, eliminating the potential of vehicles accessing the oval.
• Walter J Tuck Reserve – $5000 for pine and cypress tree removal on the fence and boundary of the tennis/netball courts.
• South Gippsland Miners Club – $4000 towards the club’s Field Set-Up Project.
• Spring is South Gippsland Working Group – $2000 towards the holding of a ‘Spring is South Gippsland’ festival – a festival of gardens and gardening events from the Daffodil Festival in August to the Rose Show in November.
• Imperials Cricket Club – $3100 for practice nets.
• Loch Community Development Association – $1500 towards a shed for storage of a trailer equipment for Loch and Nyora community groups.
• Loch Memorial Reserve – $3995 for repairs to the Loch Memorial Reserve’s tractor.
• Korumburra Gun Club – $3300 towards a ride-on mower.
• Korumburra Italian Social Club – $2500 to restore the mural on the wall of the club, located at Bridge Street, Korumburra.
• Korumburra Amateur Swimming & Lifesaving Club Inc. – $2195 for a new pool cover for the Korumburra heated swimming pool.
• Italian Australians Seniors Group Inc. – $1700 for a kitchen refurbishment at the Mirboo North Italian Community Hall.
• Poowong Loch Junior Football Club Inc. – $1500 to assist with the club’s start-up project.
• Loch Public Hall – $2000 for two reverse cycle air conditioners for the Loch Main Hall to make it more viable for year-round use.
• Nyora and District Development association – $1450 for provision of current equipment and software for the production of the Nyora and Disrict Community News. (All components except for the printing are provided by community volunteers).
• Nyora Cricket Club – $10,000 towards the upgrading of practice nets, a project which will include leveling and concreting of the area and the installation of synthetic cricket wicket grass.
• Poowong Recreational Reserve Committee – $2700 for improvement to the facilities of the Poowong Netball and Tennis clubs.
• Wonthaggi Blue Light – $1000 towards bicycle education as part of the Bike Ed Program.

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