September 15, 2022
CBD businesses who want to upgrade their shopfronts to attract more customers will soon be able to apply to the South Burnett Regional Council for partial funding of their projects.
At Wednesday’s Liveability Standing Committee meeting, Councillors were told the SBRC has been awarded a $300,000 grant from the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grant Program.
The Council lodged a joint application to this program with the Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), who have been championing facade improvements to Kingaroy’s CBD traders and building owners for the past two years.
This included KCCI-organised workshops and seminars which explained the benefits of modernising shopfronts and key improvements that could be made to increase customer traffic and business value.
Councillors heard the KCCI had originally sought Council’s support to apply for grant funding from the Black Summer program exclusively for its own members.
But when inquiries disclosed applications involving a partnership between government and business had a better chance of success, a joint application was submitted which increased the requested funding substantially so the benefits could be enjoyed by other towns as well.
The result, officers told the meeting, was that two funds will be run: one for Kingaroy CBD traders and the other for CBD traders in Blackbutt, Nanango, Wondai and Murgon.
The Kingaroy fund will have a $180,000 pool to distribute and the remaining $120,000 will be available to the other towns.
However, grant guidelines will be the same across both programs to ensure uniform outcomes across the region.
Grants from the fund will range from $500 to a maximum of $3000 and successful applicants must contribute an equal or greater amount, as well as pay any Council building and planning fees.
The grants will be distributed in two rounds – one in mid-October and the other in late January – and all projects will need to be acquitted between June 15 and November 30 next year.
Grants from the Kingaroy fund will be jointly assessed by the Council and KCCI, while grants from the second fund will be assessed by Council officers.
During the presentation of the programs, Mayor Brett Otto and Cr Jane Erkens – who both have businesses in CBD areas – declared a potential conflict of interest and left the meeting.
Four of the five remaining Councillors voted to proceed with the program, with Cr Kathy Duff the sole dissenting voice.
Cr Duff said she thought it unfair Kingaroy traders would have a larger funding pool to draw on.
She thought the money should be spread across all towns equally.
Downloads:
- KCCI Facade Improvement Grants Program (355kb PDF – for Kingaroy)
- SBRC Facade Improvement Grants Program (640kb PDF – for Blackbutt, Nanango, Wondai and Murgon)
Fantastic to see. Now how about someone bulldoze the old crap shops down from the Broadway? An absolute embarrassment to the Kingaroy CBD and a fire hazard.
If one town has 20 shops and owners are eligible for up to $3000 (should they apply) and another town has 50 shops, it naturally adds up that the bigger centre has access to a larger total.
However, if each owner is able to access up to $3000 each, my maths say that each owner, regardless of the size of the town or number of shops in their CBD, have access to the same amount of support.
The objection seems more about division than addition, and perhaps that is throwing my maths out.
I think this program is a great idea – congratulations to the KCCI for promoting it. They’re really quite an inspiring organisation.