8.7 million dollar grant which had been put in jeopardy by changing the overall object of the project has been secured through the hard work of Mark Coulton, Member for Parkes.
“I am delighted the variation for the project has been finalised and thankful that this funding is being utilised,” said Mr Coulton.
One of the top thirty election promises expressed by Mayor Tom Kennedy, when he was elected, was the changes to the CBD Revitalisation Project.
Mr Kennedy said Council had to lodge new paperwork with the Federal Government to show it was still contributing to the upgrade of the CBD.
The Federal funding requires a 50 per cent co-contribution from Council to be eligible for the money.
“We remain absolutely committed to upgrading the CBD, we just preferred to look at how we could provide other improvements to the CBD rather than funnel all of our own $6 million contribution into the library building itself,” Mayor Tom Kennedy said.
“We’re still using the Federal funding as intended, we’re just going to take a more holistic approach to the CBD, and we thank the Federal Government for accommodating this variation.”
Council will still go ahead with a new library and archives building at a cost of approximately $12 million using State and Federal funding.
Council will spend approximately $6 million from its own budget on CBD upgrades outlined in the CBD Masterplan, which includes options such as public art, improved signage and wayfinding, and improved streetscaping.
