YARRABILBA has missed out on a chance at $2 million in funding for a sporting and community facility following a council decision to withdraw a federal grant application.
Create a free account to read this article
or signup to continue reading
Logan City Council, in conjunction with Yarrabilba developer Lendlease, was set to apply for $1 million in funding under round two of the federal government’s National Stronger Regions Funding (NSRF) program.
That application has now been withdrawn by council, which says time constraints forced its hand.
The decision was met with “extreme disappointment” from Division Four Councillor Don Petersen, who said his community was crying out for community facilities.
“I am obviously extremely disappointed that the application didn’t go ahead and given council refused the request the first time it came round, that lost us about three weeks,” he said.
“I am very frustrated because as I said throughout the process and as all of council recognised, we really need to get in and provide infrastructure at the start of these developments, not mid way through or at the end.”
Councillor Petersen said the initial proposal included council putting $500,000 towards the facility, to match Lendlease’s contribution, with the grant to cover the remainder.
He said council’s delay in moving forward with the application in early July meant it had little chance of meeting the July 31 deadline.
“By the time (council) actually did provide approval to submit an application it was too short of time,” he said.
“The main thing we needed was independent verification of the funding and while we had everything together it just wasn’t enough time to get an outside body.”
Cr Petersen said it would have been solid investment for council, which would have secured a $2 million facility for a $500,000 contribution.
He also said it would have been an “important start” for Yarrabilba.
“This community is actually recognised as being disadvantaged because of its locality and being away from a whole heap of other resources,” he said.
Division 11 Councillor Trevina Schwarz, who supported Cr Petersen in the funding bid, echoed his comments at a recent ordinary council meeting.
“As many of my colleagues know, Flagstone was historically built in a way where there was absolutely no infrastructure,” she said.
“My community is absolutely begging and pleading for this type of facility, however I cannot rob another community that has a possibility of having a great start… because I can’t have it.
“If I had a developer willing to put up $500,000 for this facility I would be doing exactly what my colleague Cr Petersen is doing.
“I cannot support any other development being put together the same way that Flagstone was.”
Cr Petersen said he would continue to lobby for funding for the facility.
“We haven’t given up, there are still other funding sources we can look at and we are doing that predominantly through the state government,” he said.
“It’s not the be all and end all.”