Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, today congratulated East Gippsland Shire and Wellington Shire Councils, who were amongst a number of councils that partnered with key organisations in successfully applying for $248,248 in funding under the government’s Local Sustainability Accord (LSA) grants program.
“The ‘Sustainable Gippsland ‘E’ Community’ is one of 57 projects across Victoria that will empower local communities to develop strategic responses to sustainability issues and provide practical opportunities to improve our environment,” Mr Bull said.

“The Local Sustainability Accord program supports local communities to create local solutions for sustainability and environmental challenges.

“The program encourages local governments to provide innovative and practical solutions to improve sustainability through projects that create jobs, educate and improve best practice guidelines for households, industry and government,” Mr Bull said.

Both East Gippsland and Wellington Shire councils will also receive $45,000 respectively under the LSA’s individual grants scheme to develop an urban water strategy and to the further development of a sustainability strategy.

The Accord program comprised three categories of funding:

• Regional Grants – funding of up to $600,000 to successful regional councils.
• Partnership Grants – funding of up to $250,000 for partnerships between councils, organisations and industry.
• Individual Grants - funding of up to $45,000 to individual councils.

Mr Bull said, “the Government would also soon be rolling out its promised $20 million Community Green Fund program.”
"These grants will help community and volunteer groups to carry out practical local action and restore environmental black spots.”

For more information about the Victorian Local Sustainability Accord, visit www.dse.vic.gov.au/accord.

Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, had the pleasure of presenting Deb Foskey of the Tubbut Neighbourhood House & Resource Centre with a grant certificate for $2,800, which was recently awarded to them under the Local History Grants Program.

“The Local History Grants program recognises the contribution of community groups such as the Tubbut Neighbourhood House in preserving our local history,” Mr Bull said.

The funding will enable them to hold classes to increase the skills of people who are interested in gathering information on their family history.

Deb Foskey said, “a number of people are researching and gathering historical material, often with the desire of creating a book. The grant monies will start us on the process of digitalising photographs and other documents, with the first workshop “Digital Story-telling” to be conducted in the first week of August.”

“This is not the first time that the Tubbut Neighbourhood House has been successful in receiving grant funding. Earlier this year the committee applied for grants to fund the purchase of a trailer to answer the needs of people in the area who do not have access to a trailer and is to be used to assist those members of the community with the collection of fire wood or taking their rubbish to the tip,” said Mr Bull.

Recycling and waste recovery initiatives across Victoria will receive a boost with a $3 million injection by the government.

Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, “said the funding would assist industry to implement new forms of recycling that would reduce the amount of waste headed to landfill.”

“New recycling methods are good for the environment and for business and we want to enable industry to adopt smarter recycling methods that benefit the environment, Mr Bull said.

A total of 16 individual projects across Victoria will receive funding from the Driving Investment for New Recycling Fund, including projects to recycle expanded polystyrene packaging and plastic film, light globes containing mercury, and timber.

Expanded Polystyrene Australia (EPSA) industry body executive director, Brendan Blomeley, welcomed the Victorian Government’s announcement of grant support to fund the recycling of polystyrene.

“Expanded polystyrene is 100 per cent recyclable and the industry has long been calling for support from government to ensure it is recycled and does not end up in landfill,” Mr Blomeley said.

“This is an excellent outcome for our industry and the environment and the government deserves to be duly congratulated.”

Mr Bull said, “the government is committed to establishing a recycling industry in Victoria which will lead to the creation of both investment and jobs in the sector, as part of a worldwide trend towards minimising waste going into landfills.”

The 16 projects under the Driving Investment for New Recycling Fund will attract a total investment of $9 million and result in more than 50 full time jobs.