Johns River

In addition to the federal funding which paid for the first segment of boardwalk at the Koolyangarra Reserve (see opening with Rob Oakeshott here), our village is proud to once again be funded, this time for new landscaping equipment!

The funding application for $2860 was written by JRCPA President David Shepard, who states "This is just one of many written by Management Committee members on behalf of the community over the past years.

"The federal government has kindly agreed to offer funding for a wide variety of gardening equipment as well as Eksies, thermoses, hot and cold packs for volunteers whilst on the job.

"This current funding from the federal government will go towards some good mowers, a much-needed good brushcutter, a whipper-snipper, a backpack sprayer, possibly a blower-vac and a range of gardening and landcare tools and equipment," said the association president.

The Winning Application

The application itself highlighted the work needed in the village, and how vital equipment has been in the overall picture of getting things done. 

From the application: 

"Our volunteer clean-up days have suffered from a lack of small gardening equipment and having the whipper snippers and brushcutters needed to maintain the substantial public areas within the road reserve in our village.  Our Landscaping Committee chair [Stan Davies] is confident the provision of the listed items will greatly enhance his ability to encourage and engage additional volunteers from the village.

"The lack of basic tools, brush cutters, mowers, and others has been a serious hindrance to our ability to get volunteers motivated, working, and on a regular maintenance schedule.  Our recent deadline to landscape a large area by a new federally-funded boardwalk almost slipped due to not having the equipment needed and when we needed it.  We have several additional areas to landscape in the village, all according to our village plan adopted by Council and implemented by our association, and dearly need your assistance to fund these essential landscaping items.  Our volunteers thank you!"

Your Pen Needed!

In addition to this most recent funding application, our Vice-President Chris Bawn, Secretary Keith Allen, and History Chair Daintry Gerrand have been hard-at-it writing more grants for Johns River.

All of us seriously struggle to find the time to do the grant-writing work, and we would all very much appreciate a bit of assistance if at all possible.

Again, we are all very busy in our village lives, but if you can eke out the time to sit down, have a look at some grant application forms, and fill in the needed information (often done online), This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

Your $100 Coupon Awaits

The Greater Taree City Council has most kindly agreed to help us all out with the grant-writing process, at the Johns River Community Hall on Tuesday the 18th of October.

The JRCPA will be giving out $50 and $100 coupons to attendees, which are redeemable for each successful grant application written for the Johns River community. Grant writers will recieve a cash payment from the progress association per grant awarded, with the $100 for grants over $5000, and $50 for grants awarded to the progress association over $500. Please call JRCPA President David Shepard on (0435) 897 278 or e-mail on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you'd be interested in grant-writing for the Johns River community.

The Greater Taree City Council Get that Grant! workshop will cover how to develop a tender kit, how to best structure a project idea, methods of gathering evidence for projects, developing clear project outcomes and general tips and tricks of grant writing.

It will be a fun day with light refreshments from Rosie's served courtesy the Council, and Rosie's cafe is just next door for an espresso coffee or lunch.

After lunch, the workshop will focus on a specific grant, called Community Builders, which is NSW funding for community strengthening and capacity building programs. The workshop will provide more information about this specific grants program and its funding priorities.

Workshop organiser, Sarah Wilkinson said: "There are so many great ideas and passionate community groups out there and this workshop is about helping community groups position themselves to be prepared and more strategic applying for grants".

The workshop will run from 9.30am – 4.30pm, and is open to all community organisations in our Three Brothers region and the northern Manning.  If you'd like to book for your organisation or group, please phone Sarah Wilkinson at Council on (02) 6592 5399 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by 13 October.