Significant work with a focus on how the area recovers from the COVID-19 health crisis has reached a new phase.
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The COVID-19 Recovery Working Group, which brought together community leaders and Port Macquarie-Hastings Council teams, has worked since April to identify priority initiatives, projects and actions to help the community successfully recover from the pandemic.
The next steps involve a councillor briefing on the recommended priority projects and initiatives identified and the delivery implications including timing and resourcing.
Priority projects for council consideration are spread across areas including tourism, community wellbeing, learning, arts, culture and creative industries and capital works.
A report is due to the August 12 council meeting outlining projects which can start with identified funding.
The council noted the federal government's provision of $1.8 million under the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program to assist a community-led recovery from COVID-19 by supporting jobs, firms and procurement.
The council has also allocated COVID-19 Relief Reserve funding of almost $1.5 million.
The council acknowledged the significant work undertaken by council's COVID-19 Recovery Working Group since its inception in April.
Deputy mayor Lisa Intemann thanked everybody involved.
She said naturally they ended up with much more in suggested priorities than the council currently had money for, but nevertheless, the council would talk about the priorities and come back with a report to the August meeting.
"Further to that, we will of course be applying for funding to progress other recommended priorities from the working group," Cr Intemann said.
Cr Rob Turner said probably they did bite off more than they could chew but they chewed a little bit harder and managed to get their way through it.
He said the only difficulty now was how the projects would be funded.
Mayor Peta Pinson thanked the councillors who attended the meetings and heard firsthand from the community members who volunteered their time.
Cr Sharon Griffiths said: "This has been actually a very good undertaking by the community again, also given the government has recognised there are significant constraints and strains within the community at present and within council, and it's good to see all this great work has come together actually to progress and start providing some positive benefit to community."
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