Capital Grants Funding

The Capital Grants Program is an annual program opening on 1 August and closing 30 September each year.

Once submitted the City will undertake a detailed Technical Officer assessment of your project. Applicants will be advised in November each year if further information is required to support their application. Applicants will have until the 31 January each year to resubmit their application or supporting information.

Applicants will be advised of the outcome of their projects after the Council budget consideration and deliberation process in June – July each year.

Assessment Process

Sporting Club

All sporting club applications are progressed for assessment through a Committee of Council, known as the Strategic Sport and Recreation Committee (SSRC). It is the role of this Committee to assess, prioritise and rank the submissions and to make the final recommendations to Council as part of the budget deliberation process.

NOTE: Club officials will be requested to present your project and application to the SSRC in February / March of the relevant year.

Community Club and Group

Community applications will be assessed by the City’s Technical Officers and recommendations made to Council as part of the budget deliberation process. Please note the City may request subsequent meetings with community club or group officials during the assessment process.

Priority Projects Considerations for the City:

• align with and support relevant strategic plans including, but not limited to, the City’s Strategic Community Plan, State Sporting Associations (SSA), Strategic Facilities Plans and other relevant strategic directions
• clearly demonstrate the current and projected community need and a project sustainability that provides clear direction with regard to future community benefit and utilisation;
• will be used by multiple club or community groups;
• meet eligibility criteria for funding from other government bodies such as the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries – Community Sport and Recreation Facilities Fund (CSRFF) or Lotterywest
• increase opportunities for physical activity and social wellbeing as well as recognising the value of accessibility and inclusive participation
• meet established best practice functionality and operational objectives, Australian Standards and ensure it is fit for purpose
• can identify similar facilities within close proximity and explain how participation will be impacted at each facility.

The City understands and encourages sporting clubs and community groups to seek external funding sources other than local government funding to deliver their projects. The first stage in seeking external funding support for your project is to apply through the City’s Capital Grants Program. Once applications are endorsed by Council any external funding opportunities will be coordinated between City Officers and the club or community group, to maximise opportunities to obtain external funding sources.

Clubs and community groups seeking external funding should ensure that their project is fully scoped, costed and where appropriate, any necessary approvals are sought prior to submitting their application. As land owner, it is essential that the City has been provided sufficient advance notification of the proposed project and has cited and supported the funding application. An application will not be supported should the details conflict with any Council adopted reserve Master Plan.

If the City is requested to contribute funding toward the project, then an application is to be submitted through the Capital Grants process. 

Should the external funding application be successful prior to applying through the City’s Capital Grants process, this will not necessarily commit Council to funding their project.

Read more information about external funding opportunities here

For any sports related application, it is recommended that the club contact their governing body. Many of the State Sporting Associations, such as the West Australian Football Commission, have facility guidelines to assist clubs with designing and scoping their projects. This ensures that projects will meet the current and future needs of the sport. This information is available through their websites or via direct contact.

Clubs should also enquire if any funding opportunities exist for their project.

Please refer to the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries dimensions guidelines for sport specific dimensions and requirements.

The level of forward panning to substantiate the need and feasibility for a project must be based on key considerations including but not limited to:

• Size, scope and financial viability of the project.
• Adequacy and availability of existing provision of facilities.
• Existing and proposed usage/participation trends.
• State and local strategic plans/direction/policies.

The extent and detail of such forward planning will be commensurate with the size, complexity and sensitivity of the proposed project. It is acknowledged that minor or incidental sport, recreation and other community infrastructure projects will not warrant such a thorough forward planning process. This should be discussed with the City to determine what level of planning is required prior to applying.

In this instance, large scale projects (valued over $200,000) will require a formal Needs and Feasibility Study to be undertaken.

The below information will assist sporting clubs and community groups in undertaking this level of planning.

Needs Assessment

A needs assessment is a comprehensive information gathering process to examine why a project is required or whether the perceived need can be satisfied in some other way. The needs assessment will provide clear direction regarding the most appropriate scope, scale, components and the timing of the proposed project. This can then be tested through a feasibility study.

Feasibility Study

A feasibility study will examine the viability of a project so that any decision can be factual demonstrated. Your decision may be to implement, amend, refine or abandon the proposal. It should thoroughly test the practicability of management options; project components; location options, technical design options, social, economic and environmental sustainability, funding models and cost analysis.

Please refer to the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries guidelines regarding undertaking a thorough needs assessment and feasibility study of your project.

Read more about the future planning and development of the City’s community facilities and parks here.