This month’s council meeting was very important as my fellow councillors and I voted to endorse the final 2024-25 to 2027-28 Budget.
Following a robust community consultation process, council made a number of changes to April’s draft budget.
This included allocating an extra $423,000 to keep the North Bellarine Aquatic Centre pool open during winter.
Over the past decade, Greater Geelong has grown remarkably, boasting the fastest population growth in Victoria and second fastest in Australia.
Council is investing heavily to keep up with this growth and is set to spend $752.6 million on capital projects over the next four years.
I am pleased to report that the Bellarine Ward, specifically Ocean Grove, will benefit enormously from this significant investment.
Noteworthy highlights include Devlins Road Reserve, which will benefit from nearly $8 million in upgrades before 2027, including a new pavilion, sports fields, and lighting.
Ocean Grove’s Kingston Park will also receive $3.5 million towards developing a new bike track. The facility will have various features, including a pump track and jumps, catering to a range of rider experience levels.
Meanwhile, Collendina Reserve will receive more than $700,000 towards its pavilion upgrade and Wallington Reserve will receive almost $3.5 million before 2026 to contribute to the redevelopment of the sports pavilion, upgrade public toilets and improve car parking.
These planned investments show our firm commitment to providing high-quality outdoor spaces across the Bellarine, which the community have told us they value highly.
While this budget provides significant investment in facilities, it achieves this in a financially sustainable way, with a forecasted operating surplus of $1.514 million.
Outside of capital works funding, this budget also recognises council’s role in encouraging community projects, driving environmental sustainability, supporting small businesses and hospitality venues, and boosting our arts and culture venues and libraries.
As part of this, we have increased our community grants budget, reduced al fresco and busking fees, and allocated significant funds towards supporting the operation of arts and culture venues.
We aim to be a high-performing council that provides outstanding value to its community, and this budget sets the platform for us to do that in a sustainable way.
Finally, if you haven’t already done so, I urge you to investigate the 2024-25 Community Grants program, which has a total funding pool of almost $4.48 million.
The total available funding pool has increased by $431,000 since last year and excitingly, to recognise the importance of community-led environmental projects, our climate change grants budget is up $50,000 to $180,000.
The application process is now open, and with the substantial funding available, I’d love to see as many of Bellarine’s hard-working community groups benefit from it as possible.
Ocean Grove Voice column by Cr Elise Wilkinson – due 26 June 2024
For full grant guidelines and to apply, visit www.geelongaustralia.com.au/grants.
For further information or support completing an application, contact the City’s grants team via
communitygrants@geelongcity.vic.gov.au or 5272 5560.
