New six-month clause puts pressure on councils, sports clubs to get moving on taxpayer-funded projects
A new rule will force sports clubs to get moving on projects funded by government grants – or give up the money.
SA News
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Sports clubs are being warned to be shovel-ready and work with councils when applying for taxpayer grants – or be prepared to give back the money.
Sports minister Corey Wingard said he wanted to do more than just announce projects.
“There are some projects that received funding years ago and for a multitude of preventable reasons still haven’t started,” said Mr Wingard.
“I’m calling on councils to come to the party on this and get on with it. Clubs that have good ideas also need to do the work so that if and when government provides funding we can hit the ground running.
“Memorial Drive set a new benchmark. If we can sign off, build a roof and host an international event in a year then there is no reason why local councils can’t help grassroots clubs do the same thing.”
Mr Wingard’s office provided two unidentified grant as examples of stalled projects.
Club A received a grant of $90,000 to assist with court resurfacing, fence replacement and development of a new clubroom to be completed in 2015.
The grantee has experienced significant delays related to the design and location of the club rooms, and difficulty in relation to services.
Alternative proposals were explored but were not considered financially sustainable for the club.
Council has subsequently taken over the management of the project and is navigating heritage issues and procurement processes.
In June 2019, another club received a grant of more than $200,000 to construct a new unisex change room. But six months later the project had not progressed after the council got involved proposing to increase funding for the project and subsequently deliver a much larger facility development.
The club rejected the proposal because the leasing costs of the much larger facility would put too much of a financial strain on the club.
A Local Government Association spokeswoman said there are number of layers of state legislation that apply when developing or upgrading community facilities.
“It’s important that community organisations work with their councils during the grant seeking process to make sure any potential issues are addressed early, before submitting funding applications,” she said.
The State Government has put a clause in grant contracts to ensure work has to be started within six months.
If the project is not started within six months and there is no reasonable justification, the grant recipient will be required to pay the money back.