Strong advocacy for the Peel region has been vindicated today, with the announcement that two major local projects have won funding through the Federal Government’s Building Better Regions Fund (BBRF).

Member for Canning Andrew Hastie today announced that the expansion of Quambie Park Waroona and the Dwellingup National Trails Centre will become reality, with almost $3 million to be awarded to the two projects. 

“This is a great result and evidence that the strong grassroots advocacy of the Peel region is being heard in Canberra,” Mr Hastie said.

“I’ve been working for some time with Shire of Murray President Cr Maree Reid and CEO Dean Unsworth on the Dwellingup Trails Centre. I’ve also worked with Quambie Park CEO Nicole Gibbs, Chairperson Mike Walmsley and Board members on the Waroona Housing Options Village. We’re all very excited to see these projects get up.”

 “Both of these projects are worthy recipients of BBRF funding that will service and strengthen our local communities.”

“Quambie Park provides vital aged care services and facilities to Waroona and the region. The almost $1.7 million ($1,674,940) expansion will provide additional beds for high needs care and increase capacity for assisted living through construction of the Waroona Housing Options Village. This will enable more for elderly people to live in their own homes, with access to the support they need, in a place connected to their community.”

“The Dwellingup National Trails Centre is part of a bigger tourism plan to transform Dwellingup into a world class trails hub. The almost $1.3 million ($1,279,129) project will redevelop the Dwellingup Visitors Centre to provide services and facilities to users of the trails and contribute significantly to the Peel region’s profile as an adventure tourism destination. It is projected to deliver $97.5 million to Dwellingup’s economy over the next 30 years and will create an estimated 59 full-time jobs.”

Minister for Regional Development Fiona Nash said she created the Building Better Regions Fund to help build strong communities for decades to come. 

"I aim to help build the kinds of regional communities our children and grandchildren either want to stay in or come back to, and projects like this one do exactly that," Minister Nash said.

“After a competitive merit-based selection process, there are always those who were not successful and are naturally disappointed. We know this and we've got dedicated staff in the Department of Industry to give tailored feedback to each unsuccessful applicant to help improve those applications for next time. They can be contacted on [email protected]

Minister Nash said she expected to open another round of BBRF before the end of the year.

Minister Nash will announce the successful applicants for funding under the BBRF’s Community Investments Stream – for projects designed to support a range of local capability-building activities – in the coming months.

More information about the Building Better Regions Fund is available at: www.business.gov.au/bbrf