The Federal Government has awarded Yarra Valley Water’s Wollert Community Farm a $1 million grant to further boost the project’s outcomes.
The Wollert Community Farm is an innovative project that aims to create opportunities for community connection, conservation and enterprise development to benefit local community and environment.
Yarra Valley Water Managing Director, Pat McCafferty, said the farm is a shining example of how collaborative efforts can lead to sustainable and impactful community outcomes.
“Wollert Community Farm is being recognised as an innovative local partnership that makes good use of otherwise unused buffer land at our treatment plant. It will include environmental education, a local food system that utilises recycled water and conservation and land management,” Mr McCafferty said.
Whittlesea Community Connections CEO, Alex Haynes, said this grant will significantly boost the farm’s capacity to deliver on its mission.
“This additional funding means Wollert Community Farm is well on its way to creating more volunteer, training and employment opportunities for local people as well as implementing positive land management practices,” Ms Haynes said.
The farm includes infrastructure for native horticulture including seed production, nursery and greenhouses, as well as meeting, education and community spaces, toilets, utilities, access road and car parking.
Yarra Valley Water said the funding announcement caps a successful year for the community partnership, which was recognised with a gold award at the International Water Association’s 2024 Project Innovation Awards. The award recognised its groundbreaking approach to reimagining the use of land for community benefit and environmental sustainability.
Funding for Stage Two of Wollert Community Farm was secured through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts’ Thriving Suburbs Program Grant of $1,028,619.
