Coastal Grants Program

Each year, the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee (GORCC) dedicates funds for community-led projects that enhance the natural values of the 37km of coastal Crown land under its management between Point Impossible and Cumberland River.

The grants aim to support the work of environmental volunteers and community groups who play an integral role in enhancing the work GORCC do between Torquay and Lorne. These groups do amazing work to preserve and protect our environment along the Great Ocean Road, with their work benefiting the entire community.

Previous grants have funded a diverse range of projects, from the refurbishing of historic anchors, to the revegetation of coastal habitats at degraded coastal sites.

GORCC encourage all community groups, non-government organisations and school groups to apply.

Funding is split between applicants as determined by project needs.

THE 2020 ROUND HAS BEEN SUSPENDED DUE TO THE UNCERTAINTY OF CORONAVIRUS.

Please read the following guidelines before you begin your application.

Guidelines

Coastal Grants Program 2020 – Guidelines

Application form 

Coastal Grants Program 2020 – Application form

2019 GRANT RECIPIENTS

Jan Juc Coast Action, St Therese Catholic Primary School and Torquay and District Historical Society all received funding from the 2019 grant round to support their work in caring for our coast.

Jan Juc Coast Action’s project will illustrate volunteer driven environmental change on the Jan Juc clifftop through a series of four signs highlighting the previous state of the degraded landscape prior to the group’s environmental restoration efforts. The signs will be placed in locations that show the direct impact volunteer efforts have had on creating substantial positive environmental change on the clifftop, increasing visitor value and understanding of the ecological values.

St Therese Catholic Primary School’s project ‘Creating a community of leaders: Out and About goes public’ aims to connect school and community in the common purpose of caring for the environment and building a more sustainable future. Funding will help contribute to building on the current successful Out and About program and opening it up to additional schools and the general public.

Torquay and District Historical Society, through their historical signs project, will produce and erect signs on historic sites in Torquay. The project aims to educate local residents, school children and visitors on what Torquay was like from the late 1800s to the mid 1900s. Funding will help produce the signs and a brochure to promote the history walk.

Previous grants have been awarded to:

• ANGAIR – for supplies for the new Propagation Centre in Anglesea, including seed tubes, potting mix bins and watering hoses
• Fairhaven Surf Life Saving Club – toward an education and restoration program to protect the dunes near the Fairhaven Surf Life Saving Club, including the revegetation with indigenous plants
• Anglesea Motor Yacht Club – for the preservation and restoration of the historical ‘Inverlochy’ anchor, including plaques with the historical origins of the anchor.
• Jan Juc Coast Action – for the promotion of the Surf Coast Nature Search online interactive website through touchscreen devices, which is promoted at the Torquay Foreshore Caravan Park
• Torquay Coast Action – to help continue the restoration project at Deep Creek with additional planting to link previously restored sites to the north and south of the estuary.