Photo Caption (L-R): Cobar Shire Council Projects Coordinator Carly Hunter, Acting General Manager and Director of Finance and Community Services Kym Miller and Member for Parkes Mark Coulton at Ward Oval in Cobar this week.
Member for Parkes Mark Coulton was in Cobar this week to discuss plans for a major revamp to the Ward Oval precinct, made possible with a major $6.7 million grant from the Federal Government.
Mr Coulton said he was impressed with Council’s extensive plans for the precinct, and said the new Early Learning Centre in particular will be a game-changer for the community.
The grant was allocated under the most recent round of the Government’s Building Better Regions Fund and will also cover a multi-purpose community building.
“There is so much excitement here in Cobar as a result of this grant,” Mr Coulton said.
“It’s going to make an enormous difference – not only to the early learning offering here in town, but to the facilities at Ward Oval which the entire community can enjoy.
“I know that the Cobar community has been campaigning for the Ward Oval redevelopment for quite some time.
“Now, as the beneficiary of the largest grant in my electorate under this round worth $6.7 million, Cobar Shire Council can make this dream a reality.”
Mr Coulton said he was pleased an additional grant of $67,324 had been allocated to Cobar Shire Council to develop an Economic Resilience Strategy.
“BBRF is all about strengthening the local economy and delivering lasting benefits to our communities like Cobar which we know have suffered the flow-on impacts of drought, and now the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
“Cobar Shire Council deserves a huge congratulations on receiving these terrific grants – it’s an outstanding success for our region and I’m very excited to see the projects come to fruition.”
Acting General Manager of the Cobar Shire Council, Kym Miller, said the grant has enabled Council to move forward with much-needed improvements in town.
“Currently, access to early education in Cobar is disjointed and inadequate, leading to difficulty in attracting families to mining jobs and a high turnover in employment,” Mr Miller said.
“This centre will allow Cobar to have sufficient enrolments to attract specialist services we need such as speech therapy.
“The upgrade and expansion of the Ward Oval facility is equally welcome and we thank the Federal Government for acknowledging and supporting our vision to make Cobar a better place.”
The most recent $207 million round of the BBRF was dedicated to helping communities hardest hit by the drought, with more than $18.8 million going towards local projects in the Parkes electorate.
For a full list of successful projects, please visit www.business.gov.au/bbrf
