Guidelines for the Port Kembla Community Investment Fund have been expanded, meaning a wider range of businesses, organisations and groups can apply to help "revitalise" the area.
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The NSW Government provides annual funding from the long-term lease of the port of Port Kembla.
The government has announced $2 million for round four of the fund.
According to the government, changes have been made to allow more businesses to apply include modifying the objective of the fund from "improving community amenity" to "revitalising" Port Kembla.
Others include funding projects in immediately adjacent suburbs that meet the fund objective and demonstrate clear and significant benefits to the Port Kembla community; extending project delivery timeframes up to three years in line with other similar programs; and extending the timeframe between applications opening and closing to eight weeks.
Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock said due to the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on communities, round four of the Investment Fund will have a renewed focus on supporting projects designed to increase economic activity.
"Projects will also have a focus on continuing to deliver enhanced activation and connectivity of public infrastructure and improving environmental air, land and waterway quality," she said.
Ms Hancock said the community has "told us what changes they would like to see... We have listened".
In response to the government releasing the guidelines for the latest round, Wollongong MP Paul Scully said, "good, what took the government so long?"
Mr Scully last year said he had to push to contribute to a review of the program.
"The government should also have released the review into the PKCIF. In addition, there are still two projects which were funded for government departments and agencies, which we have still not seen the outcomes for.
"I call on the Minister to also release the Tourism Development Plan for Port Kembla Project and Port Kembla Surplus Industrial Land Activation Project, which were awarded funding in Round Two of the PKCIF in 2017.
"Both of those funded projects have been completed but the community are none the wiser of the outcomes."
Applications for round four will open on September 1 and close on October 31.
For more details, visit www.nsw.gov.au/pkcif.
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