	{"id":126642,"date":"2026-06-08T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/byroncoasttimes\/?p=126642"},"modified":"2026-06-03T23:00:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T13:00:04","slug":"rous-opens-community-grants-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/byroncoasttimes\/news\/rous-opens-community-grants-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Rous opens community grants program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ROUS County Council has launched its Community Grants Program, offering grants of $1,000 to $2,500 for projects that improve waterways, support weed biosecurity and promote bush regeneration.<\/p>\n<p>Funding will also be considered for projects focused on rural flood resilience, drinking water education and Aboriginal cultural initiatives.<\/p>\n<p>Rous brand and engagement manager Casie Hughes said the grants were designed to support local organisations and businesses working towards outcomes that align with the council&#8217;s goals.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We know our local community is doing valuable work across our region every day, and we&#8217;re proud to be able to contribute to their activities through this program,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Eligible applicants include not-for-profit organisations, businesses, schools, universities, sporting clubs and community associations across the Ballina, Byron, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed local government areas.<\/p>\n<p>Rous general manager Phillip Rudd said the council was committed to supporting projects that delivered lasting benefits for the region.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This program allows us to back projects that strengthen environmental outcomes, provide education opportunities and support cultural initiatives that reflect our responsibility to the region we serve,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Applications close 28 June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ROUS County Council has launched its Community Grants Program, offering grants of $1,000 to $2,500 for projects that improve waterways, support weed biosecurity and promote bush regeneration. Funding will also be considered for projects focused on rural flood resilience, drinking water education and Aboriginal cultural initiatives. Rous brand and engagement manager Casie Hughes said the [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/byroncoasttimes\/news\/rous-opens-community-grants-program\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":126660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-126642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rous opens community grants program - Byron Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Apply for community grants from Rous County Council. Funding is available for local weed biosecurity and waterway projects.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/byroncoasttimes\/news\/rous-opens-community-grants-program\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rous opens community grants program - Byron Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Apply for community grants from Rous County Council. Funding is available for local weed biosecurity and waterway projects.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/byroncoasttimes\/news\/rous-opens-community-grants-program\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Byron Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-07T18:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2026\/06\/QKV-48.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mitchell Craig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mitchell Craig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/rous-opens-community-grants-program\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/rous-opens-community-grants-program\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mitchell Craig\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9846d5675d51069bb38b76da2cd6a7dc\"},\"headline\":\"Rous opens community grants program\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-07T18:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/rous-opens-community-grants-program\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":186,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/rous-opens-community-grants-program\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/QKV-48.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/rous-opens-community-grants-program\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/rous-opens-community-grants-program\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/rous-opens-community-grants-program\\\/\",\"name\":\"Rous opens community grants program - Byron Coast Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/rous-opens-community-grants-program\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/rous-opens-community-grants-program\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/QKV-48.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-07T18:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Apply for community grants from Rous County Council. 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