Small communities across regional and rural Victoria will be backed by a $50 million package to drive sustainable development and create new opportunities through job creating infrastructure, support for older people and positioning for future challenges.
The Premier John Brumby said that under the $631 million Ready for Tomorrow: A Blueprint for Regional and Rural Victoria, the Victorian Government would inject new funding towards supporting the lifestyle choices and opportunities that small towns offer.
“Our Government is determined to support families living and working in rural and regional Victoria,” Mr Brumby said.
“Ready for Tomorrow is a $631 million strategic investment by our Government to drive a new era of opportunity and prosperity in regional Victoria,” Mr Brumby said.
“Small towns and communities are a central part of what makes regional and rural Victoria a rich, diverse and dynamic place to live, work and raise a family and we will continue to drive new job opportunities and protect the lifestyles families in these towns have come to cherish.
“This new $50 million investment will deliver the infrastructure needed to help our small towns retain their unique character and charm and the support older people living in communities need to maintain their quality of life.
“It will also support our small towns to bring people together to work through their challenges and identify their individual opportunities to lock-in a prosperous, sustainable future.”
The Ready for Tomorrow $50 million Sustainable Small Towns package includes:
- $43 million for local infrastructure projects through the Sustainable Small Towns Development Fund, including for projects that improve public amenity such as streetscapes and community halls, as well as projects that improve sustainability and energy efficiency;
- $5.5 million for adaptation in small towns in which communities will be encouraged to establish clusters that bring local people together to canvas priorities and develop local action plans. The program will focus on five clusters of towns experiencing significant change that will benefit from planning to meet future challenges; and
- $1.5 million to improve liveability for older people through building local government and community capacity to deliver projects that will make a positive difference to the quality of life, social participation, health and well-being of older people in towns with a significant ageing population. The focus will be on the shires of Southern Grampians, Pyrenees, Glenelg, Colac Otway, Surf Coast, South Gippsland Shire, Strathbogie, Moira, Buloke, Gannawarra, Loddon and Central Goldfields.
Regional and Rural Development Minister Jacinta Allan said small towns were a big part of the social and economic heart of rural and regional Victoria.
“We understand how important it is to support the future prosperity of our small towns and this new investment will drive them forward sustainably,” Ms Allan said.