RURAL Councils Victoria has welcomed a state and federal government announcement of a $9.4M Council Priority Betterment Program’ to improve the resilience of essential public assets such as roads, bridges and footpaths damaged as a direct result of the 2022 flood event.
The impacted councils eligible to apply are Buloke, Campaspe, Central Goldfields, Gannawarra, Loddon, Moira, Murrindindi, Benalla, Bendigo, Hepburn, Mildura, Pyrenees, Shepparton and Strathbogie.
“The announcement has important significance,” Rural Councils Victoria Chair Cr Mary-Ann Brown said.
“It is the first time that state and federal governments have embraced the concept of betterment in Victoria, which means building back assets to a higher standard to withstand possible future natural disasters.”
Seven councils (Buloke, Campaspe, Central Goldfields, Gannawarra, Loddon, Moira, and Murrindindi) will be eligible to apply for up to $1M each, while another seven impacted councils (Benalla, Bendigo, Hepburn, Mildura, Pyrenees, Greater Shepparton and Strathbogie) will be eligible to apply for up to $343,000 each.
Applicants are required to provide a minimum co-contribution of 5 percent to the project and that a co-contribution is considered an ‘in-kind or monetary contribution from a council’.
Council’s receiving betterment funding allocations will be shortly notified of the allocations.
