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Money available for community groups in the Pilbara |
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Written by Alan Richardson
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The Pilbara Development Commission this week welcomed the launch of a new round of the Royalties for Regions Regional Grants Scheme.
Regional Development Minister Brendon Grylls announced the second round of the grants program on the 20th of October.
Under the scheme, $45 million will be shared between the nine Regional Development Commissions.
Pilbara Development Commission Chair Tim Shanahan said the Commission would receive $5 million in the new allocation of the grants scheme.
“Given the enormous response from the people and organisations of the Pilbara to the first Regional Grant Scheme round, the Board is very confident that this round will also give rise to many exciting, locally driven and strategically important applications” he said.
The scheme is targeted at providing financial assistance to regionally based organisation such as volunteer and business groups, educational institutions, philanthropic foundations and community organisations.
Mr Shanahan said that this round will also see $100,000 being made available for small grants via a separate process. The small grants round will enable community organisations in the Pilbara to apply for funding of up to $10,000.
Minister Grylls said the Regional Grants Scheme was a key Royalties for Regions initiative that put particular emphasis on local decision-making.
“The Regional Development Commissions have an important and expanding role in the regions and are in a good position to determine which projects should be funded,” he said.
“The scheme gives regional communities and all organisations with regional interests the chance to apply for funding directly through the development commissions, knowing that their applications will be assessed in the region.”
“It is putting money back into the communities and giving them the chance to determine for themselves how that money is best spent.”
The latest round of contestable grants is part of a total pool of $73 million allocated to regional communities through the Regional Development Commission structure in the 2009-10 budget.
Of this total pool, $28 million has been made available for projects identified by the Regional Development Council in conjunction with the nine Commissions. The Regional Development
Council is the peak advisory body to the Western Australian Government on regional development issues.
For more information about the grants contact the commission or go to the Royalties for Regions website: www.RoyaltiesforRegions.wa.gov.au.
Applications for the grants will close on 10 February 2010. |
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