Great Southern projects to share $470,000 in latest round of Regional Economic Development Grants

Healthcare, child care, animal care and distilling in the Great Southern will all get a boost in the latest round of the State Government’s Regional Economic Development Grants program. Regional Development Minister Don Punch visited Denmark on Friday to announce four projects would share $470,000 between them in the program’s sixth round. He said the grants filled a “very, very special role” in regional WA. “There’s no doubt we are on a mission in relation to how we diversify and broaden WA’s economy,” he said. “That has come out of the uncertain times that we live in and, even today, the uncertainty overseas has highlighted the importance of how we build capability and capacity in WA’s economy. “It is about ensuring we do as much as we possibly can locally.” There were 22 applications to support Great Southern projects during the application period for the round six RED Grants. Scriven Property Trust - $150,000 for the Ocean Beach Health Group Allied Health Centre The funding will go towards the development of a five-room multidisciplinary allied health centre in Denmark through a shared-care model of healthcare. “Not only does the project support the region in access to healthcare, but it will also provide skilled employment opportunities and expand and diversity the allied health sector here in Denmark,” Mr Punch said. “It is a great project that shows that we are building capability and capacity in (a) location so people don’t have to travel.” Dave Scriven said he had been “really humbled” to receive the grant and strong support as they were still early in the business journey. He said Ocean Beach Physio had grown quickly since it opened, which led him to explore plans for extra rooms. “We then had an idea that there is so much needed here that we could potentially offer Denmark more by adding allied health to make it a multidisciplinary clinic,” he said. “We’re looking to reduce the burden of patients having to travel to Albany and Perth for services, as well as boosting jobs.” He said he had been contacted by a former patient currently studying physiotherapy in Perth on Friday morning. “Hopefully with our plans going forward, we can bring her back to town by offering her a job,” he said. Village Childcare - $140,000 for the Albany Daycare development Funding for Village Childcare will help the centre expand beyond its after-school care program to establish a long daycare service capable of having 68 places. “Everywhere I go in regional WA, childcare comes up as a very, very topical issue so this is a great project,” Mr Punch said. “(This project) will create extra jobs for the region, but importantly it will ease pressure on families struggling to access child care and support workforce availability through the return of caregivers to work.” Director Preity Dhaliwal said she could only offer 19 places when Village Childcare started offering after-school and vacation care and it had now grown to 60 places, serving more than 150 families. “I’m so happy that this project is now going ahead because we get so many calls but I have to say ‘I’m really sorry, I can’t help you right now’,” she said. “We can soon start telling families that we have some dates and then we can start up our waitlist. “It will be such a relief within the community and help take the pressure off families who will be able to plan and work.” Gracefield Enterprises Clinic - $110,000 for the Katanning Veterinary Clinic expansion The funding will help purchase equipment to fit out an already well-progressed plan to expand the Katanning Veterinary Clinic. “We are supporting the only purpose-built veterinary clinic in the upper Great Southern which services an area up to 150km from Katanning,” Mr Punch said. “We are supporting this valuable project because it is increasing capacity, increasing capability and increasing workforce — what a trifecta.” Gracefield’s Kate Clayton said they were about three-quarters of the way through the expansion and were “just so grateful to receive the grant”. “The build has been done, our flooring is going down soon and it’s looking amazing — the girls and I were just standing there in awe of the space we get to work in very, very soon,” she said. “This grant will enable us to purchase equipment for ICU care, for more developed diagnostics which we currently don’t have access to or have space for. “We are just so excited to be able to provide that for the community and to be able to train the nurses that we’ve got.” Cannabis Botanical Distillery - $70,000 for the expansion of CBD manufacturing facility The Cannabis Botanical Distillery will receive funding to increase its manufacturing space and production which will help the distillery export its growing range of products. “It will increase manufacturing floorspace to enable increased manufacturing capacity from 3500L to 35,000L per annum,” Mr Punch said. “This project is set to expand the capacity and diversity of the agribusiness manufacturing sector in the region as well as providing skilled jobs, increasing Denmark’s tourism offering and championing the low-carbon approach in the hemp industry.” CBD’s Chelsea Beaton said the company was first started in a backyard when her husband Matt was “tinkering away at home”. “We are really passionate about the diversity across the region and we are super excited for this opportunity,” she said. “We are passionate about the space of green distilling, which is an area of the industry that is still novel and new. “It’s exciting because creating innovations with hemp and other products from within the region will create tourism opportunities as well.”