Charlotte Varcoe
LIMESTONE Coast Local Government Association president Lynette Martin is encouraging councils to apply for grants of up to $500,000.
The state government recently announced the opening of grant applications to revitalise laneways, main streets as well as civic and public spaces.
The Open Space Grant Program 2023-2024 opened in recent weeks and enables councils to apply for matched grant funding to support local works, services and facilities while providing communities with better access to “high quality” open space.
This year’s grants are looking for projects which have “innovative, creative and sustainable designs, community benefit including local consultation” and “improvements to accessibility, safety and connectivity”.
Ms Martin said she encouraged all local councils to apply for the funding saying projects in council areas “improves the lives of the community” throughout the Limestone Coast.
“It makes the region an attractive place for people to live and work and so City of Mount Gambier will be looking to see how we might be able to seek funding aligned with our work around the central business district activation and other planning and placemaking,” Ms Martin said.
“We will be considering the best application at this point in time and this goes for all councils as it creates an opportunity to improve our public spaces.”
She said councils which have public spaces made the area an attractive place for people to live and work while also having a positive place to hold events.
“If you have got an attractive space it will attract people to the space and it just creates activity in our public spaces which is really important,” she said.
“It is all about making public spaces attractive and placemaking in our city as well as our Limestone Coast region and we all know if a place is attractive we want to be a part of it.
“It also creates health and wellbeing because people move around the city and it can also socially connect people.”
The grant round will close at 12pm on February 9, 2024.
