The Warrumbungle Shire Council has won big in the latest round of the Locals Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, with $2 million granted across several of the council’s projects. 

Pool CCTV, playground upgrades, dog parks, bus stop upgrades, pool maintenance, cemetery signage and oval roofs are all on the to-do list for towns throughout the Warrumbungles, where 15 projects were approved. 

“Council is delighted to share that it has received $2,449,382 under the Australian Government’s Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program (LRCI) Phase 4,” Warrumbungle Shire Council Mayor Ambrose Doolan explained. 

The funding is part of a project to improve community infrastructure, with an additional $250 million that is tasked with improving rural, regional and outer urban roads.

Projects that have been approved under the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program include:

• Mendooran Tennis Court Fence Upgrade - $120,000

• Shire Wide Bus Stop Upgrades - $185,000

• CCTV Installation at Outdoor Pools - $150,000

• Shire Wide Playground Upgrades - $400,000

• Mendooran Park Picnic Shelter and Pathway Upgrades - $140,000

• Len Guys Park Binnaway Toliet Upgrades - $80,000

• Dog Parks for Coolah, Coonabarabran, and Dunedoo - $120,000

• Dunedoo Pedestrian Access Improvement - $60,000

• Baradine Pool Amenities Maintenance and Repair - $100,000

• Coonabarabran Pump Park Shade and Seating Improvements - $25,000

• Cemetery Signage Renewal Phase 1 - $50,000

• Coolah Pool Enterance Building Maintenance and Repair - $100,000

• Coonabarabran No3 Oval New Skillion Roof - $88,366

• Baradine Road, Baradine Causeway - $550,000

• Piambra Road, Binnaway Reconstruction - $346,016

With the projects set to begin in 2024 and be delivered by the end of June 2025, which is part of a flexibility aspect of the program that was requested by councils.

“We’ve increased both the funding amount and the delivery window for Phase 4 of LRCI, because we know that this will enable councils to progress higher-priority projects that have a lasting impact in their communities,” Minister for Regional Development Kristy McBain said. 

“The feedback from the hundreds of councils that attended our recent Australian Council of Local Government was that this extension will give them more flexibility to plan for and deliver these works.”