Wollondilly Mayor Matt Gould has welcomed funding from the Australian Government’s Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants program for a range of local projects to support the ongoing recovery of the Shire’s fire impacted communities.

The program will give backing to projects that have been specifically identified by the affected communities to assist with recovery, improve infrastructure and boost small business.

Mayor Gould said, “It will take a long time for all the residents and businesses in Wollondilly to recover from the 2019-20 bushfires, and it is great to see that we haven’t been forgotten.”

“Thank you to Federal Member Angus Taylor and the National Bushfire Recovery Fund for making this money available to help address some of the residual issues in our Shire and help us on our continuing recovery journey.”

Mr Taylor announced the full list of projects which would be funded earlier this week.

The projects include a dangerous tree removal grants program which will provide 50 community grants of up to $10,000 each to help residents remove trees that pose a threat to property and human life. The funding will cover the assessment of identified trees to comply with Council’s tree removal policy.

Funding for an emergency waste hard stand area will help Council provide a sealed area for waste that is generated from natural disasters and emergencies, to be stockpiled and processed for recycling or reuse where possible.

Some other important initiatives to be funded include an emergency signage program, hazard reduction works, a Back to Sport program, money towards a regional sporting hub, the Paint the Town project, a First Responder Resilience Program and funds to enable the Buxton community to renovate their local hall.