Crown Reserves Improvement Fund (2020/2021)

The Crown Reserves Improvement Fund provides financial support for the development, maintenance and improvement of Crown reserves. Grant and loan funding can be applied for each year.

There is no set limit for a funding application. In previous rounds, the funding requests have ranged from $500 to $2 million. Each application (regardless of the amount requested) is assessed for eligibility and against the assessable criteria, which is detailed in the Information Guide.

A number of different activities are funded each year in the following categories:

general development, maintenance and protection activities on any eligible reserve
pest and weed projects on Crown land

As always, with any grant, we strongly recommend you look at the past recipients of the grant for ideas of successful projects that you could replicate.

Objectives of the program

The objectives of the CRIF funding program are to:

maintain and develop recreational and tourism facilities on public reserves for community use and enjoyment
facilitate initiatives that enhance the operational sustainability of the Crown Land Manager (via reducing ongoing costs, increasing revenue or improving governance)
manage and renovate infrastructure and other assets on public reserves to optimise value to the community and comply with regulatory obligations, in particular to ensure public safety and work health and safety is maintained on Crown reserves
enhance environmental assets by supporting conservation initiatives, bushfire management and invasive species (pest and weed) control on public reserves
support business opportunities that realise the potential of the Crown land estate, support regional economies and promote greater financial sustainability
support the important role that volunteers play in the ongoing management of the Crown reserve system
ensure the CRIF is self-sustaining and managed in a contemporary and efficient manner, with appropriate planning and administrative processes
to assist in building resilience and restoring community amenity following adverse events (eg public health closures, bushfire, floods, drought) -– this is a new objective flagged as a priority in 2020-21
upgrade and renovate showground infrastructure to support regional communities, groups and associations — this is new objective in 2020-21
Improve walking and cycling access through Crown reserves, including providing new connections between reserves (e.g. delivering the green grid) –- new objective in 2020-21.

Eligibility

Crown land managers of any NSW Crown reserve are eligible to apply to the CRIF. If you are not the authorised land manager you must provide signed written approval to apply from the manager—if applying for multiple reserves, every land manager must give approval.

User groups and individuals with an interest in Crown reserves, Crown caravan and state parks, showgrounds (including freehold) can all apply. For your application to be eligible, user groups must obtain a letter of authority from the official Crown land manager supporting their application. Note that if successful, funding will be paid to the Crown land manager.

NOTE: To ensure your application is eligible the person entering the application MUST BE either:

an authorised person of the Reserve’s Crown land Manager, OR
an interested party AND sub evidence of support signed by an authorised person from the list in Table 1 found in the FAQ document.

Applications that do not comply with the above will be ineligible.