Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast Scot MacDonald MLC has welcomed the announcement that Central Coast Council will receive $50,000 under the fourth and final round of the Social Housing Community Improvement Fund (SHCIF) for upgrades to Jarrett Street Reserve in Gosford North.

The funding will provide for the replacement of soft fall materials to rubber soft fall to improve safety and attractiveness of the reserve for social housing residents.

Round 4 of the SHCIF, which completes the delivery of the NSW Government’s election commitment to building stronger social housing communities, delivered grants of between $35,000 and $50,000 to support local organisations improve the lives of the most vulnerable across NSW.

Mr MacDonald said the funding provided through the SHCIF would help improve the lives of social housing residents in Gosford, by not only providing improved facilities, but also better connections with the wider community.

“The SHCIF is a great Government initiative which funds projects to bring the community together,” Mr MacDonald said.

“I am pleased that social housing tenants that live in Gosford and their neighbours will see the impact of the funding through improvements to facilities that can be enjoyed by everyone.”

Minister for Social Housing Pru Goward said the final round of funding would add to the already successful projects that were making a real difference to social housing communities across the state.

 “The SHCIF was a wonderful example of how Government can work with communities, local councils and the private sector to deliver projects which strengthen ties between people in and around social housing properties,” Ms Goward said.

“I congratulate the successful recipients of Round 4 grants and look forward to seeing the projects improve the lives of the most vulnerable in the community for years to come.”

 Central Coast Council’s Director Assets, Infrastructure & Business, Mike Dowling, said that the announcement of funding was a very pleasing result that will provide benefit to the community.

“Improving quality of life for those in our community who need it most is a great priority to us; and the SHCIF funding will greatly assist us to deliver essential upgrades to support people now and into the future”.