The Mornington Peninsula Shire Council in Victoria is encouraging community members, organisations and local businesses to participate in four newly launched grants.
The series of grants are set to make the Council more accessible, improve community life and deliver action on environmental projects.
“We currently have so many opportunities for funding available,” Mayor of Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, Cr Anthony Marsh said.
“I encourage you to read the program guidelines and apply if you have an eligible project.”
- The Accessible Business Improvements Grant (closes 11 March 2022 at 5pm)
Local businesses can receive up to $5000 to make improvements to increase the accessibility of their business for people with disabilities.
The types of proposals that Council can fund include:
- Completing an access appraisal of your business or organisation to help improve physical access
- Developing communication options for people with complex needs including those whose first language is not English
- Deliver access and inclusion awareness training to staff or members
- Providing information in different formats (e.g. large print, audio or electronic formats)
- The Biolinks Support Grant (closes 11 March 2022 at 5pm)
A biolink, also known as a habitat corridor, links separate habitat patches to support biodiversity.
Funding up to $10,000 is available to support biolink projects, with Council seeking applications for projects that work toward fostering resilient local wildlife via habitat corridors on private and/or public land.
The types of proposals that Council can fund include:
- Reducing fragmentation by improving and ultimately connecting habitat patches that have been subdivided, reduced and/or isolated
- Providing habitat for wildlife that can persist in narrow corridors, or use them for foraging, breeding or sheltering
- Providing pathways for individual animals to move between patches
- Facilitating genetic exchange between populations in isolated habitat patches, therefore reducing their risk of local extinction
- Enabling recolonisation of patches where species are locally extinct
- Enabling species to disperse to areas with more suitable climatic conditions in the face of climate change
- Climate Action Grant (closes 18 March 2022 at 5pm)
The Climate Action Grants program funds small businesses, not-for-profit community groups, charities, schools, business associations and social enterprises on the Mornington Peninsula working on innovative projects that help the community reach climate emergency goals, including net zero emissions by 2040.
The program offers grants of $1000 – $5000 for smaller projects and up to $10,000 for larger projects.
The types of proposals that Council can fund include:
- Reducing a business/school/organisation’s carbon emissions through increased carbon storage and reduced energy usage
- Initiatives to reduce the amount of food waste going to landfill at a business/school/community organisation
- Developing an education program that encourages behaviour change, such as sustainable travel
- Building the capacity of community organisations to ensure more effective climate action
- Community placemaking (closes 25 March 2022 at 5pm)
Placemaking in communities is where community groups or an organisation lead a project, program or activity, working collaboratively with Council and other partners for the benefit of the community.
Funding of up to $10,000 is available.
The types of proposals that Council can fund include:
- Increasing opportunities for social connections, inclusion and engagement
- Strengthening the capacity of volunteering
- Contributions to making townships vibrant
- Contributions to making facilities, amenities and natural environment accessible
- Building resilience by strengthening all demographics of community
- Enhancing sustainability and/or will not have a negative impact on the built and natural environment
- Bringing together a collaborative partnership
- Supporting broad community benefits in more than one township
For more information about the eligibility criteria of all Mornington Peninsula Shire Council grants, and how to apply, click here.
