Hornsby Shire Council was awarded $90 million from the Stronger Communities Fund in 2018, $40 million of which was allocated to the Westleigh Park project.
Most of the money for that project – more than $36 million, according to the council’s latest report – is yet to be spent, and the state government has now refused Hornsby’s application for an extension to use the funds.
“At a time when we are facing a cost-of-living crisis, every dollar counts,” Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig said.
“Hornsby Council has had years to utilise this funding and the original deadline written into the grant guidelines has long passed.
“Where councils have not demonstrated sufficient progress on projects that received grant funding, the government will be recouping this money and ensuring it is reinvested where it’s needed most.”
In the lead-up to the 2019 state election, $252 million from the Stronger Communities Fund was allocated to councils, ostensibly to support amalgamations.
However, more than 95 per cent of that funding went to councils in electorates held by the former Coalition government, including some that weren’t part of mergers – like Hornsby.
“The former Liberal-National government’s Stronger Communities Fund has been exposed as one of the most egregious examples of pork barrelling,” Hoenig said.
“The fund was originally established to support councils which had been forcibly merged by the former government, yet Hornsby Shire Council received $90 million despite not being one of the amalgamated councils.”
However, the decision hasn’t gone down well with the council.
“Council is deeply disappointed by this decision as a significant amount of planning, design and financial support that extends beyond the state government funding, has been invested into the project with notable progress and momentum to date,” Mayor Philip Ruddock said.
“With the development application under assessment, detailed design is complete and site works will commence in late 2024…
“Council is now considering what options are available to us to ensure our community gets the recreational facilities it was promised.”
Hornsby wasn’t the only council to have an extension application rejected.
The state government received 15 other requests from 10 councils.
It approved 12 of them, including a second bid from Hornsby Council regarding $50 million in funding for Hornsby Quarry.
That was approved by the Minns government “as construction has progressed significantly”.
Two other councils – Federation and Edward River – had their applications to reallocate a combined $94,000 to different projects denied, while a request from Snowy Monaro Council about a community centre is slated for further review.