FOR the District Council of Karoonda East Murray, the Drought Communities Program offers an enormous opportunity, but also a time frame challenge.
Council chief executive officer Matthew Morgan said after two years of lower than average rainfall, the council was eligible for $1 million of funding from the federal government.
“The federal government made it clear that this funding is about communities,” he said.
“It’s not about drought recovery or drought assistance for farmers because there are already specific programs in place offering that targeted assistance.
“This program is really about providing an economic stimulus into communities, to make sure they’re resilient through these tough times.”
Mr Morgan said a challenge with the program was the proviso that any projects funded through it needed to by fully completed by June.
“Any project submitted for approval has to meet certain guidelines and criteria,” he said.
“Even though it’s a short time frame, we wanted to go out to community consultation, to make sure we weren’t missing anything.”
Mayor Caroline Phillips said one project being put forward would help address a major issue in the area – access to childcare.
“At the moment, we have access to one day of childcare a week in town, in a shared facility,” she said.
“We’re hoping we can increase that to four or five days a week with the creation of a new facility.”
The council plans to build a childcare facility in a carpark opposite the Karoonda Area School.
The site is also behind the town’s institute and another building that houses kindergym, creating a community hub.
“By having that extra access to childcare, people in the area who might be looking for some off-farm income will have a greater ability to seek additional work,” Ms Phillips said.
“It’s a project that would have an immediate effect and a long-term impact on the economic development and sustainability within the community.
“The childcare challenge is something that’s been on the council’s agenda for least five years.
“It’s been a challenge to attract young families into the community and providing that extra service will help.”
Ms Phillips said the new facility could also be used by the town’s youth on the weekends and after school, as well as groups such as Lions or the Country Women’s Association.
Expressions of interest for the facility closed on Monday.
Mr Morgan said the council was looking for builders who could work within the needed time frame to a budget of $500,000.
He said another major plan for the funds was “activation” of Railway Terrace in Karoonda.
“We want to make sure visitors have a reason to stop and spend their dollars in the town,” he said.
Ms Phillips said an aim was to join the state’s growing silo art trail, but this was dependent on receiving permission from Viterra.
“During the Karoonda Farm Fair, we had projections of students’ artworks on the silos at night, which was very well received by the community,” she said.
Ms Phillips said even with these two major projects, there should still be money left over from the funding.
“We’ve been out in the smaller communities, such as Wynarka and East Murray, running workshops to get some big picture thinking on what people want to see in their community,” she said.
