Shire wraps up COVID-19 assistance grants

THE Surf Coast Shire has wrapped up its COVID-19 Recovery Assistance Program, with the scheme ultimately spending almost all of its $1 million budget.

Councillors resolved to accept the final report on the program, funded by the shire in its 2020-21 Budget, at their meeting last month.

Set up to support businesses and communities to recover from the pandemic, the program saw the shire receive more than 500 queries and 154 applications.

Ultimately, the shire approved $924,711 in funding to 63 successful applications as well as to nine of its own initiatives.

The grants were split at first into two and then into four streams:

Full Programs – More than $5,000 and shire-led and delivered, or led and delivered by the business sector or trader organisations

Rapid Response – up to $5,000 and shire-led and delivered, or community-led and delivered

Creative Communities Fund – up to $20,000 for leading and emerging artists, and

Individual Small Business Support Fund – up to $5,000 for businesses that received no or minimal support from state and federal government relief packages.

The largest single grant was $100,000 to deliver projects for economic recovery via the five trader associations in Lorne, Aireys Inlet, Winchelsea, Torquay, and Anglesea; followed by $75,000 for Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism marketing campaigns; and $72,000 to the Council Community Facilities Fund to offset financial support for users of the shire’s facilities.

Of the $1 million, $62,479 was left unspent.

Speaking at the meeting, Cr Gary Allen said the final COVID-19 Recovery Assistance Program report was “extremely comprehensive” and encouraged the shire’s residents to read it.

“I wish to congratulate the previous council for their foresight to envisage and resource this initiative and the officers who were tasked with the job of implementation. We were all uncertain about the timeframe and the future, individual and community impacts of the pandemic.”

He said he was particularly pleased with the $100,000 earmarked for the Creative Communities Fund.

“Economic rationalists may roll their eyes, but this allocation recognises the importance of the non-tangible benefits of the arts to individual emotional health, as well as to the artists whose income and job security is so often overlooked.”

Cr Rose Hodge said COVID-19 hit the Surf Coast economy hard, with 52.9 per cent of businesses applying for JobKeeper payments and a loss of more than $190 million in tourism expenditure.

Cr Heather Wellington said there should be more objective reporting about the free Summer Shuttle Program in Torquay and Jan Juc, which was used by 772 people in 32 days at a cost of $48,547, or $62.88 per rider.

“The reality was the cost per person was unbelievably high, there were very few people who took it up, and I wouldn’t like that to be put down as a big tick, which it seems to be at the moment.”