THE State Government is giving new investments into Victorian small towns announcing almost 50 recipients as part of the Round three Tiny Town Fund across northern Victoria.
Round three of the $20 million Tiny Town Fund will deliver 157 projects across 151 towns with less than 5000 people.
The figures take the total number of projects to over 500 across 419 towns.
New playgrounds, updated halls and many other projects are shaping these small community towns in a beneficial way.
In the third round of the fund, the local Tallarook Mechanics Institute was given $31,839 to help boost their facilities.
The Review spoke to the president of the Tallarook Mechanics Institute, Libby Webster, who was extremely grateful for the funding.
She reflected back to the hall burning down in 2018, which was a tragedy for multiple community groups including the Tallarook Play Group.
After the community building burnt down, the group held multiple fundraisers to try and get more equipment alongside a new playground, but they couldn’t get enough.
So the Mechanics Institute applied for a grant through the highly competitive Tiny Towns fund.
“We were just thrilled to hear that we got the $31,839,” Ms Webster said.
“We’ve also had a generous donation from the Tallarook Arts Society, who wanted to be involved in the project.”
The Hall plans to expand their children’s playground, wanting to make it more interactive and nature based.
They’ve recently had live music, weddings, conferences and “this money will be just another example of how we can improve the hall and make it a community focussed venue in the town”
Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes played a major role in the redevelopment of the building after it intitally got burnt down.
“The Tiny Towns grant program is so popular across Northern Victoria, highlighting the very best of regional Victoria. Congratulations to this round’s deserving recipients.” Ms Symes said.
“The fund is just one of the many examples of our $50 billion investment in regional Victoria since 2014.”
A fund of $10k was also given to the Tallarook Garden Club through the Tiny Towns grants.
It is a win for Tallarook and it’s tight-knit community.