Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce, says $250,000 in additional bushfire recovery funding is being provided to Walcha Council under the Bushfire Community Recovery and Resilience Fund (BCRRF).

The funding will support Walcha community recovery and preparedness with a focus on mental and physical health, including youth networking and social events, a training program and practical skills for disaster recovery.

“This is great news for the people of Walcha, helping to further promote community wellbeing, social and future disaster resilience,” Mr Joyce said.

“It builds on the $500,000 in additional resilience funding we announced earlier in the week for Armidale and Glen Innes councils as recognition of the trials and tragedy from the recent fires.”

Separately, smaller grants under Stream 2 of this Fund are also available to the broader Walcha community for social recovery and preparedness projects between $20,000 and $300,000. Eligible organisations include community groups, joint organisations, NGOs and not-for-profits. MIA RELEASE

Applications for Stream 2 of the BCRRF program will now be accepted until 12pm on 11 December 2020 and can be submitted at www.emergency.nsw.gov.au 

In addition to the BCRRF, Walcha is also eligible for grants under the $250 million Bushfire Local Economic Recovery (BLER) fund.

Applications for this funding have been extended and will now be accepted until 2pm on 28 January 2021 – extended from the original closing date of 11 December 2020.

Under this program, grants of between $200,000 and $20 million are available to organisations such as councils, businesses, joint organisations, business chambers, charities, local Aboriginal Land Councils and state government agencies to deliver bushfire recovery projects.

For more information visit www.nsw.gov.au/blerfund

(ENDS)