Wagga Wagga City Council has received funding of almost $4.5 million under the Federal Government’s Growing Regions Program for a project to carry out works as part of the development of the Lake Albert Water Sports and Event Precinct.
Council is one of 40 successful applicants from Round 1 of the Growing Regions Program with total funding of approximately $207 million under the Australian Government initiative.
Mayor of the City of Wagga Wagga Councillor Dallas Tout welcomed the announcement by Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King that Council would receive $4,493,776 under the program.
“Council applied for Round 1 of the Growing Regions Program to develop the Lake Albert Water Sports and Event Precinct through the installation of pumps and pipes, remediation of the foreshore and upgrades to the existing Lake Albert weir and spillway system,” Cr Tout said.
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The funding will be matched by Council (almost $4.5 million) and will deliver construction of infrastructure that will allow 1800 megalitres of water to be pumped from the river to the lake annually.
“It will also allow the remediation of more than two kilometres of foreshore to address erosion issues, and the upgrade of the existing weir and spillway system.
“These works, once completed, will ensure that Lake Albert has a consistently high water level, enabling a large variety of water sports and events to be held within the precinct.”
Council’s contribution to the estimated $8.987 million project will predominately be funded from Council’s internal reserves, which were previously restricted for future infrastructure development use.
With the allocation of funding, the next step will be to finalise the planning and design for the proposed works.
The Federal Government’s Growing Regions Program supports local government entities and incorporated not-for-profit organisations to deliver capital works projects in regional and rural Australia that support community socio-economic outcomes and regional priorities.
