Cootamundra’s Jubilee Park will be undergoing upgrades supported through the NSW Government’s Public Spaces Legacy Program.
Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke announced a $2 million grant from the program for the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council for the enhancement of Jubilee Park project, which will focus on increasing the amenity of the park and expand on the natural habitat for native birds.
Ms Cooke said she was delighted the NSW Government was investing in the long-term future of Jubilee Park.
“I am so pleased to announce this support for Jubilee Park today which will continue to enhance this vital community space,” Ms Cooke said.
“This work will help Jubilee Park be enjoyed by even more people and is an investment in the long term future of Cootamundra.”
“These upgrades join extensive investment in to Cootamundra’s Jubilee Park, including $499,900 for the teen playground from the Stronger Country Communities Fund.”
“To secure full funding for the project, council needs to continue accelerating assessment and determination of local DAs, which will have the additional benefit of bolstering the local construction pipeline through to 2023.”
Mayor of Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council Abb McAlister said the grant was a boost for the Cootamundra community.
“This is fantastic to get the $2 million for Jubilee Park, we’ve got a masterplan that includes a wet area and enhancements for the Captain’s Walk,” Cr McAlister said.
“We really want to make Jubilee Park unique to draw more tourists, with work on a wet area, work on the Captain’s Walk, possibly a Women’s Cricket Captain’s Walk, planting more trees and shrubs to attract more birdlife, more accessible walkways.”
“This will help promote Cootamundra and we thank Steph Cooke and the NSW Government for this funding. I also really want to thank our planning staff who have met the planning criteria to get this funding.”
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said the funding being delivered to councils was reliant on them meeting agreed targets to speed up local development applications.
“This program is the first of its kind in NSW and demonstrates state and local government working together to create a legacy of beautiful public spaces that communities, for decades, can be proud of,” Mr Stokes said.
“In exchange for legacy funding, councils participating in the program need to speed up their assessment times. They have until June 30 to keep hitting their targets but, so far, the program has seen a 20 per cent improvement.
“It’s been great to see the unclogging of the planning system as part of this program – 42 of 53 planning proposals that had been stuck in the planning system for more than four years have been resolved and 161 of 168 regionally significant development applications have been cleared.”
Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council will be provided with funding for project planning and design and will have until 30 June 2021 to demonstrate they have met DA assessment performance improvements to lock in their full allocation of funding, ahead of construction starting on projects from August this year.
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