Tamworth Regional Council has been a grateful recipient of more than $7 million in funding under the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program.
In the past 18 months funding under the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan has brought and is continuing to bring huge benefits and rewards to so many of our local communities.
The community has been a huge winner. Under three rounds Tamworth Regional Council has received funding of nearly $2.4 million and another $5 million in strategic funding for the new Longyard sports stadium complex.
We completed 21 different projects involving $1.295million in playgrounds, parks, sports grounds, recreational grounds and community halls under the first round. Many of those, such as nearly $300,000 in lighting for sporting ovals, now allow sport to be played longer, later and with ever expanding horizons and potential.
We are currently working on another 22 projects under the second round and we have been offered a third round involving another $551,000.
Tamworth Regional Council has completed those projects without any management or project fee and the entire amount of federal funding has been invested into our community. It represents enormous value for money and substantial improvements to our community infrastructure.
It is obvious that local government can work with the federal government and deliver huge government funding so effectively and efficiently and we encourage the government to consider more of the same – even those that have traditionally been outside the realm of local government activity. We can get the job done. And we can get it done with the best value for money.
New Bureau of Statistics population figures show that the Tamworth region is one of the leaders in regional NSW – we recorded the second largest population growth of inland NSW in 2009.
They are encouraging and significant and they serve to substantiate the results and the activity we see happening around us. Despite the global financial crisis, our building approvals continued to increase in value and construction activity continued strongly.
Tamworth’s 1.9% population increase of 1,081 from 2008 to 2009 is significant when it comes to government planning in putting new infrastructure like roads, schools and hospitals into key growth areas. They are vitally important in terms of attracting government funding. Government agencies and infrastructure developers will examine the statistics and base future activity on the areas they see as progressive and popular. The results we have provided under stimulus spending are a tangible reason for governments to focus their funding injections on places like the Tamworth region.
Regards,
James Treloar