Six northern suburbs community groups will share $82,725 in the 2020 Chain Valley Colliery Community Funding Program.
Gwandalan and Summerland Point Peninsula Improvement Group will receive $29,900 for fitness equipment on Tunkuwallin Oval and Uniting Northern Lakes Neighbourhood Centre will get $8,492 towards their Let’s Get Creative art workshops.
Chain Valley Bay Progress Association was granted $28,000 for a pavilion at Joshua Porter Reserve.
In Mannering Park, the Men’s Shed received $13,000 for a dust extraction unit; Tidy Towns $996 for hedging equipment and the sailing club received $2,336 for storage for the Sailability program, a sailing program for the disabled.
The annual Chain Valley Colliery Community Funding Program is the result of an initiative set up by Mannering Park Precinct Committee to contribute to surrounding communities affected by the colliery operations.
Committees in Summerland Point, Gwandalan and Chain Valley Bay were also involved in establishing a Voluntary Planning Agreement (VPA).
The VPA came about after Lake Coal (now Delta Coal) was granted development consent in 2013 to extract up to 2.1 million tonnes of coal a year until December 2027.
As a condition of consent, the VPA was set up that required $0.035 for each tonne of coal produced be allocated to the community funding program.
Central Coast Council’s role in the fund is to administer the funds.
Sue Murray