A Yarra Ranges Council project to help communities better understand and deal with hazardous bushfires has won $10 million in federal mitigation funding.
The project is one of 158 to have successfully won a share of $150 million in grant funding under Round One of the Preparing Australian Communities Program – Local stream.
A corporation of the City of Norwood Payneham and St Peters will receive a $9.9 million grant for its Trinity Valley Stormwater Management Upgrade, while the Blue Mountains City Council will get $3.9 million towards its Wentworth Falls Lake Dam Upgrade project.
National Recovery and Resilience Recovery Agency (NRRA) Coordinator-General Shane Stone said the program is critically important to reducing the social, economic and emotional impact of floods, bushfires and cyclones.
“We can’t disaster-proof the nation, but we can reduce the impact,” Mr Stone said this week.
Originally, Local stream funding was to be restricted to disaster-declared LGAs. However, the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) successfully lobbied for all 537 Australian councils to be deemed eligible to apply for grants.
The NRRA proposes to deliver a second round of Preparing Australian Communities Program – Local grants in 2023.
The Round Two guidelines will be informed by a review of Round One, including feedback from stakeholders.