At the monthly meeting the council tabled the data, which provided a summary of grant activities and outcomes.

It showed a total of 27 grant applications had been actively pursued in this period with 14 successful, seven grant applications pending, totalling more than $494,323, and six unsuccessful.

Approved funding included $260,000 for Port of Warrnambool dredging planning from the Local Ports Grant Funding, $1.6 million for the installation of a CBD wide program of pedestrian improvements, $9360 for the installation of an all-abilities hoist on the Hopkins River, $130,000 for fishing pontoons at Johnson Drive and Queens Road, $195,000 for Wollaston bridge conservation works and $71,000 for temporary funding for council’s to manage recycling services.

The council was unsuccessful in receiving $2.5 million for the construction of safer launching facilities at the Warrnambool harbour, $330,000 for  the purchase of FOGO bins, caddies, and liners and $79,500 for the extension of the boat ramp at Jubilee Park. 

The council is waiting on results for grants for $220,000 for blackspot road funding for the Kepler Street/Timor Street roundabout and Giffen Street/McMeekin Road signal phasing, $130,000 for new fish cleaning facilities at the harbour and $159,000 to reconstruct the Hopkins River rowing platform. 

Chief executive officer Bruce Anson said a lot of effort went into the funding applications, but it was good to see there was a “reasonable level of success”.

Councillor Sue Cassidy said a lot of people did not realise the amount of work that went into grant applications behind the scenes.

“It’s a lot of work to get these grants and I think the team has done really, really well,” she said.

“It’s interesting to see what we get the grants for. We see a lot of water activities and fishing.”

Cr David Owen said he was disappointed the FOGO bin liners and caddies application was not successful.

“It’s a challenging operation to do, it’s a hard process,” he said.