Clubgrants Category 3 Infrastructure Grants – November 2024 Round

The NSW Government offers grants to communities across NSW to support the costs of construction, alteration, renovation, completion and fit-out of buildings and community infrastructure to deliver outcomes for disadvantaged NSW communities including regional, remote and drought-affected areas, culturally and linguistically diverse, disability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and disaster-affected communities. Funding is available for arts and cultural infrastructure, sport and recreation infrastructure and projects that assist communities with essential infrastructure and disaster readiness.

The November 2024 round of the Clubgrants Category 3 Infrastructure Grants has four streams:

Arts & Culture: $50,000 to $200,000 available per project
Community Infrastructure: $50,000 to $250,000 available per project
Disaster Readiness: $50,000 to $200,000 available per project
Sport & Recreation: $50,000 to $300,000 available per project

NOW is the time to start preparing for your application!

Approach Council RIGHT NOW to submit a DA (Development Application) for your project and get it approved…
OR
If appropriate, ask Council for a Letter stating your project is Exempt from requiring a DA

Ensure you have Permission for Premises/Land Use — Have a copy of your Rates Notice, or Land Title Certificate, or a letter on official letterhead from your landlord or land manager stating you permission to undertake your project on their premises or land

Gather your quotes together (Remember you want full RRP pricing — NO sales or specials because that price might not be valid by the time your grant is approved) and develop your budget

Request Letters of Support from other organisations that you’re partnering with and/or who will benefit from your project (see our series of articles about requesting and writing Letters of Support)

Read the Grant Guidelines

REPEAT!!! READ THE GRANT GUIDELINES — We can’t stress this enough

Download the Sample Application Form and start preparing your responses in a Word Document, so you can copy and paste into the online application when the round opens

All of this takes time to gather and prepare, and applications open the first week of November — That’s a mere 12 weeks away! You’ll need every moment to prepare!

The objective of the Clubgrants Category 3 Infrastructure Grants program is to fund the costs of construction, alteration, renovation, completion and fit-out of buildings and community infrastructure to deliver outcomes for disadvantaged NSW communities including regional, remote and drought-affected areas, culturally and linguistically diverse, disability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and communities affected by bushfires.

The Infrastructure Grants can be used for costs such as construction, the purchase of capital equipment and professional fees. Examples of projects range from local sports ground facilities, public swimming pools, children’s play areas, museums, art galleries, theatres and upgrades to evacuation centres, or community welfare infrastructure that supports youth, mental health or homelessness services.

Looking at past recipients from across New South Wales, organisations in Junee Shire may wish to look at the Arts and Culture stream to be used for;

Creation of Outdoor Art Features
Commissioning of Silo Art at Illabo and/or Old Junee (We understand the Junee and Harefield silos are classified as “operational” sites, so are NOT eligible for Silo Art works projects; and we’re currently not sure of the status of the silo at Marinna)
Establish a Community Arts Studio and Gallery
Refurbish a vintage sleeping carriage to create a local tourist attraction
Install Audio Visual Equipment (Speakers, Mics, Audio mixer, Projector, BluRay Player etc) and Stage Lighting Systems in Community Halls to hold arts and cultural events
Outfit a trailer to create an Open Air Theatre or Cinema
Upgrade and fit out a Heritage Centre and Museum

Community Halls and other groups may wish to consider the Community Infrastructure stream to look at projects like:

Construction of a expanded Scout or Community Hall
Install Solar Panels and Battery Banks on Community Halls and Buildings
Rainwater tanks for irrigation and/or with drinking water filters attached to designated taps
Installation of outdoor LED energy efficient lighting
Purchase a Wheelchair modified vehicle (or a baby seat enabled vehicle)
Construct new, or upgrade exisiting buildings, sheds and amenity blocks
Re-establishment of a FoodBank storage and preparation facilities
Upgrade or outfit kitchens in Community Halls

The Disaster Readiness stream could be used to;

Upgrade, replace, or add additional emergency service vehicles
Upgrade emergency services buildings and sheds
Install Solar Panels and Battery Banks, along with Emergency power generators
Install Rainwater tanks with drinking water filters attached to designated taps and/or include a fire fighting tap
Installation of PA systems in Community Halls, along with a projector connected to Free-to-air set-top box to monitor latest emergency announcements

Sporting Clubs will certainly want to check out the Sports and Recreation stream to consider projects like:

Upgrading Club buildings and surrounds
Constructing new amenities blocks
Installing (solar powered, with battery bank) LED Floodlighting on fields and courts
Construction or renovations of Grandstands and viewing/shade structures (We’ve mentioned Felton Industries in the past — have a look at their website for ideas)
Re-development or expansion of courts, grounds and fields
Refurbishment, extension or installation of irrigation systems and rainwater tanks

Be sure to check out all the past recipients (especially the most recent rounds) for even more ideas on projects that could potentially be funded for Junee Shire based community groups and sporting clubs.

Successfully Funded Local Projects

Local Organisations funded in Recent Rounds

Gasworks Motorsport Inc received $125,000 funding under the February 2021 Sports and Recreation stream to Upgrade the Spectator Facilities at Illabo Motorsport Park!

Rotary Club of Junee received $200,000 funding under the February 2021 Community Infrastructure stream for the Installation of AV Equipment in Community Meeting Rooms!

Cooinda Court Aged Care Facility received $60,000 under the July 2022 Community Infrastructure stream for the Upgrades to Cooinda Court including Solar Panels and Furniture!

Junee Senior Citizen’s Club received $60,783 under the October 2022 Community Infrastructure stream To bring the Senior Citzen’s Hall into the 21st Century with new uni-sex accessible toilet, presentation system, CCTV, and Internet!

Re-apply, if you submitted an application in previous rounds!

If you submitted an application under previous rounds, we strongly recommend you review it, update anything you think can be improved and then re-submit your project.

You just never know — your project may have only missed out by a point or two from been successful last round!

Don’t let all that work go to waste — RESUBMIT YOUR PROJECT in this round!

The AV Equipment for Community Meeting Rooms project, mentioned above, had been submitted to a couple of different grants, including previous rounds of the ClubGrants Infrastructure Grant… and was finally approved in the November 2021! So it does pay to persevere — Review, Amend and Re-submit your exisiting grant applications!

Perhaps consider if your project may have a better chance of successful approval by changing the stream you apply under??? There appears to have been no projects approved under the Disaster Readiness stream in the July 2021 round, but an increased number of projects approved under the Sports and Recreation and the Community Infrastructure streams.

Junee Community Network can put you in touch with some independent reviewers to run a quick eye of your exisiting application(s) and who might be able to provide some advice on potential improvements or changes. Just drop us an email with a brief (1-2 paragraphs) overview of your project and we’ll try and match you with an appropriate reviewer.