PRESERVING OUR HERITAGE TOGETHER GRANTS PROGRAM 

Grant applications closed at 5pm on Friday 1 April 2011.

New round to be announced shortly!

Owners of Ballarat heritage properties can receive financial assistance for preserving and restoring their properties through a new grants program launched by Council in 2011.

The ‘Preserving Our Heritage Together’ Grants Program is an initiative of the City of Ballarat aimed at enhancing Ballarat’s heritage for the benefit of the community. The objective of the program is to provide grants to support projects that will conserve, restore, reconstruct, preserve or enable continued use of Ballarat’s heritage places.

Expressions of Interest for grants are now open and are available to private residential and commercially owned heritage places in the Heritage Overlay within the municipality of Ballarat. Expressions of Interest will close at 5pm on Friday 1 April 2011.

To be eligible for ‘Preserving Our Heritage Together’ Grant funding applicants must be the owner of a significant or contributory heritage place in a Heritage Overlay and be undertaking works to conserve, preserve, reinstate, reconstruct or restore heritage places within the municipality of Ballarat.

There are some instances where applications for grants will not be eligible for funding. Examples of these include new works that do not contribute to the conservation, restoration or reinstatement/reconstruction of original heritage features and works on a property not in the Heritage Overlay.

The ‘Preserving Our Heritage Together’ Grants Program is comprised of two separate schemes:

• ‘Preserving Our Heritage Together’ grants for private residential and commercial property owners.

Grants are available to all commercial and residential owners of a significant or contributory heritage place in a Heritage Overlay.  Commercial property owners can apply for grants of up to $20,000 while private residential property owners can apply for grants of up to $5,000.

• ‘CBD Strategy’ heritage grants for commercial property owners in eligible streets in Ballarat’s CBD.

Grants are available to commercial owners of a significant or contributory heritage place in a Heritage Overlay, in:

• Sturt Street (Bridge Mall to Dawson Street)
• Lydiard Street
• Armstrong Street
• Bridge Mall 

Owners of commercial properties in these streets can apply for grants of up to $20,000 and are also eligible to apply for ‘Preserving Our Heritage Together’ grants.  With both grants combined, up to $40,000 is available.

All successful grant applicants must contribute a minimum of 50 per cent of the total project cost.  In cases where owner contributions are not available, the 50 per cent owner contribution can be loaned from the Heritage Restoration Loans Scheme.

Completed forms can be:

Mailed to:

Heritage Grants Officer
City of Ballarat
PO Box 655
Ballarat VIC 3353

 Delivered to:

Heritage Grants Officer
Ballarat Town Hall

 Emailed to: heritage@ballarat.vic.gov.au

Things to remember:

• Completed Expressions of Interest forms must be received by 5pm on Friday 1 April 2011.
• The objective of the program is to provide grants to support projects that will conserve, restore, reconstruct, preserve or enable continued use of Ballarat’s heritage places.
• Applicants must be the owner of a significant or contributory heritage place in a Heritage Overlay
• The ‘Preserving Our Heritage Together’ Grants Program is an initiative of the City of Ballarat aimed at enhancing Ballarat’s heritage for the benefit of the community.
• New works that do not contribute to the conservation, restoration or reconstruction of original heritage features are not eligible