Elsie Lange
Macedon Ranges was let down by funding omissions in last week’s budget says the CEO.
Council chief executive Bernie O’Sullivan said the organisation was “disappointed” it had missed out on funding for stage two of the Macedon Ranges Sports Precinct.
“Construction on stage one is soon to commence, however council is seeking $15 million in funding from the federal government to contribute towards the $21 million required for stage two,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
“The current and projected population growth and the conditions of existing sports fields in the south of the shire make it imperative that stage two is delivered soon after stage one in order to meet continuing demand.
“Council will continue to advocate for the funding required to complete the project and deliver the new sporting precinct to the community as promised,” he said.
He said council was pleased to see the Building Better Regions Funding program had received a boost, as it was a program council had applied to in the past, and could do so again in the future, to fund its regional sports precinct.
Mr O’Sullivan also lamented a lack of federal funding in the area of climate change, given council declared a climate emergency in 2021 and developed a climate action plan.
“We see this as intrinsically linked with emergency management and would like to see much more funding towards climate change mitigation and renewable energy,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
Despite this, Mr O’Sullivan celebrated extra federal support for recycling, including $60.4 million over four years from 2022-2023 to boost Australia’s plastics recycling capabilities.
“As a leader in recycling initiatives, including being one of the first councils to introduce separate glass recycling, and food and garden organic bins, and our current soft plastics recycling scheme pilot, we were pleased to see additional funding for initiatives in the Recycling Modernisation Fund,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
He said federal funding for telecommunications and data aligns with council’s priority projects and emphasised the need for extra support in areas like Woodend, Kyneton, Tylden and Gisborne South.
“We have not received word yet regarding if any of the telecommunications funding allocated would be put towards these areas, but council continues to work with individual telecommunications companies to fill these blackspots,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
