Creating Better Places - Urban Improvement Grants
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| The Victorian Government allocated $13.5 million over four years to Creating Better Places (CBP) in the 2005-06 Victorian State Budget. CBP is a grants program that supports Melbourne 2030 initiatives by funding urban improvement projects in principal or major activity centres in: (a) metropolitan Melbourne; and (b) networked regional cities and towns identified in Melbourne 2030. Grants, available in four annual funding rounds, commenced in 2005-06. This program has now been extended for another two years with an additional $4.3 million through the 2009-10 Victorian State Government Budget. The grants provide opportunities for the State Government to work in partnership with councils and communities to create more vital, attractive, sustainable and safe activity centres, and to protect heritage assets across Victoria for future generations. Creating Better Places 2009-10 (Round 5) Grants for Round 5 were announced on 7 December 2009. Urban Improvement stream (15 grants) View successful projects and recipients for Round 5. The focus for Round 5 was on:
 CBP Round 5 - Program Guidelines Brochure (DOC - 1.2 MB) CBP Round 5 - Program Guidelines Brochure (DOC - 94 KB)Application form CBP Round 5 - Application Form (DOC - 118 KB)Funding Terms and Conditions CBP Round 5 - Terms and Conditions (PDF - 158 KB)An information forum was held on the 15 July. Presentations from the forum can be downloaded for your information: CBP Round 5 Program Launch Presentation 2009 (PDF - 1.0 MB) CBP Round 5 Launch Presentation 2009 (DOC - 61 KB)Urban Improvement Grants General Information and Case Studies For more information on the case studies read the Urban Improvement Grants General Information and Case Studies document which has been broken up into the following sections:
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Grants for Round 4 were announced in December 2008.
- Urban Improvement stream (17 grants)
The focus for Round 4 was to demonstrate the outcomes of the program, by funding capital works projects that implement Melbourne 2030 objectives. The priorities for Round 4 were:
1. Physical improvement - capital works
2. Bridging projects - design for capital works
3. Place managers
4. Other strategic projects
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Creating Better Places 2007-08 (Round 3)
Grants for Round 3 were announced in October 2007:
- Urban Improvement stream (20 grants)
Creating Better Places 2006-07 (Round 2)
Grants for Round 2 projects were announced in September 2006:
- Urban Improvements (23 grants)
- Heritage (13 grants)
Creating Better Places 2005-06 (Round 1)
Grants for Round 1 projects were announced in mid-2006:
- Urban Improvements (25 grants)
- Heritage – Melbourne 2030 (17 grants)
- Heritage – Public Land (25 grants)
Mid Term Review – Urban Improvement Stream
The review was undertaken between December 2006 to February 2007. Interviews were held with councils and other key stakeholders.
The review indicated that the program was generally well received and well managed and that the urban improvement stream has improved over time.
The review also identified opportunities for further improving the program which was implemented through the subsequent funding rounds.
Final Program Evaluation 2008
SGS Economics & Planning (SGS) was commissioned by the DPCD in late 2008 to evaluate the Creating Better Places (CBP) and the Expert Assistance Programs (EAP). The evaluation concluded that CBP and EAP are crucial to the successful implementation of Melbourne 2030 and are efficient from a socio-economic perspective. That is, the triple bottom line benefits, although they accrue over a long term horizon, are likely to significantly outweigh the costs, as the programs bring forward higher quality and more intensive activity centre development.
The analysis highlighted that the financial impacts of the programs on Government are limited to program funding. On the other hand, the socio-economic implications are much more widely distributed and are likely to engender triple bottom line benefits that outweigh the costs by a factor of 3. Finally, the analysis also highlighted that place based intervention and grant funding best practice is well incorporated into the design and delivery of the programs.
The evaluation also provided a number of recommendations, which will be incorporated into any possible extension of these funding programs.
Expert Assistance Program
Council can also seek further assistance in finalising and implementing structure plans for principal and major activity centres through the Expert Assistance program.
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Please note: Document(s) on this page are presented in PDF format. If you do not have the Adobe Reader, you can download a copy free from the Adobe website.