State budget response from Council
Published on 24 May 2023
State commitments in Budget
Council has welcomed the State Government’s Budget, with the honouring of several local election promises included in projects to be funded.
Funds for the bowls and community hub at the Taverner St site in Bacchus Marsh ($2.9 million), a dog park in Bacchus Marsh, and the Gordon Recreation Reserve Master Plan ($20,000) have been included, after being promised prior to last year’s state election.
There is also $25 million for traffic lights at the Griffith St/Grant St intersection in Bacchus Marsh, which was also a pre-election commitment.
St Bernard’s Primary School in Bacchus Marsh will receive $3 million and the Maddingley bus service will be extended to Stonehill Estate.
The State Government funding for the pool is not in this Budget but is still on the table once the Federal Government contributes to the project.
Mayor Cr Rod Ward said all these funds were welcomed.
“Griffith St has become so busy in recent years with the increase in industry and residential population in Maddingley, plus the two schools in the vicinity, so this funding will help ease congestion and get traffic moving more freely,’” Cr Ward said.
“The bowls and community hub has been one of our biggest priority projects so we’re very pleased with the State Government’ commitment to it.”
Cr Ward said it was widely understood the State Budget was going to be a tough budget with little extra spent on infrastructure and services, due to the state’s current debt.
“We’re happy to see the Government has still honoured the commitments it made pre-election and we look forward to continuing to work with the state on attracting funds for infrastructure and services we require for our rapidly growing shire.”
“We’re also keen to get some detail on some of the state-wide announcements and grants programs, such as the $10 million Tiny Towns Fund, to see if we can apply for any funds for our communities,” Cr Ward said.
“It does appear there is significantly reduced funding under the Growing Suburbs Fund, which we have successfully used in the past for projects such as Darley Pavilion and West Maddingley Early Years Hub. This reduction will make it harder to secure funds for projects like these in the future.”