DROUGHT COMMUNITIES PROGRAM SUPPORTS LOXTON WAIKIERIE

The Member for Barker Tony Pasin is pleased to announce that the District Council of Loxton Waikerie have been granted funding for five projects under the Federal Government’s Drought Communities Program.

The projects approved are:

Snake Island Upgrade – $65,000: These works will allow beautify the area and create an additional visitor experience adjacent to Council’s largest tourism attraction the Loxton Historical Village, increasing the visitor spend it will result increased revenue from Tourism in the future. Council will either employ contractors or take on additional staff to complete the works to stimulate the local economy.

Small Communities support – $90,000: Upgrades to community infrastructure including painting of halls, park benches, upgraded security barriers, playground equipment. Council has over 40 individual community localities in its Council that can benefit from this expenditure.

Tourism & CBD Infrastructure Improvements – $275,000: The improvement of community assets and infrastructure to increase opportunity for tourism expansion and increased economic benefit in the future by increased tourism patronage by extending both tourism stay and spend.

Irrigation Infrastructure $125,000: Council has the need to upgrade several of its irrigation sites where the stress on the areas has become more pronounced because of the drought, the lack of winter rain and current high summer temperatures requires irrigation systems to be running at an optimum level. The project will either employ additional staff directly or local contractors depending on the ability to meet the deadlines for the 30th June 2019 completion requirement. The Loxton township has areas that were previously watered with subsurface irrigation that has failed and these areas need to be replaced. The Ramco Oval is feed via a high pressure steel 100mm main from the Golden Heights pumping station operated by the Central Irrigation Trust(CIT), it feeds the Ramco Primary School, Ramco Cemetery, the Ramco Hall, Apex park and several homes, local knowledge estimates it has been in place for over 40 years. The pipe is corroding and requires repairs one to two times per year, these are undertaken by CIT but billed to Council. CIT does not take responsibility for the main as it is steel and it has no history of using steel high pressure mains. The replacement of the steel pipe in the same location as current due to the high cost of the traffic management on a DPTI controlled road and their requirements, an alternate route was used behind the houses and laid in between the school and cemetery which is being investigated.

Tourism Infrastructure $225,000: New and upgraded tourism signage at a regional and local level. New and upgraded walking and riding trails.

“Each of these are exciting projects that will bring vibrancy and renewal to the region and I can’t wait to see all the elements come together to have a lasting impact on the local economy and the people who live here in the region,” Mr Pasin said.

“While much of the media attention of this drought has been focused on conditions in NSW and Queensland, I’ve been on the ground listening to people living through dry conditions here in Barker and I understand that things are tough for individuals and communities. This is why I fought for the Drought Communities Program to be extended into the driest regions of SA, including the Loxton Waikerie Local area,” Mr Pasin said.

The Drought Communities Program supports communities in the most drought-affected regions of Australia and builds on more than $7 billion of Liberal and Nationals Government drought support measures.

In August 2018, the program was extended to provide support of $1 million to 60 eligible councils and in October a further 21 eligible councils were added to reach even more communities suffering through drought.

Funding is available to eligible councils for local infrastructure projects and other drought-relief activities.

Project funding is intended to provide short-term support, including by boosting local employment and procurement, and addressing social and community needs.

For information on the Government’s Drought Communities Program visit: https://regional.gov.au/regional/programs/drought-communities.aspx

Contact: Charlotte Edmunds  8531 2466