The Victorian Government is helping more communities to transform ageing pavilions, upgrade local stadiums and develop new pools to encourage people to stay active and healthy.

Minister for Community Sport Ros Spence today announced applications are open for the 2021-22 Community Sports Infrastructure Loans Scheme.

The scheme provides low-interest, government-guaranteed loans of between $500,000 and $10 million to councils, clubs, associations, educational institutions and facility managers to develop high-quality community sport and active recreation infrastructure.

Eligible projects include the development or upgrade of aquatic leisure facilities, indoor sports stadiums, community sport precincts, pavilions, sports grounds, skate parks and trails, as well as the packaging of similar projects across multiple sites.

Previous rounds of the scheme supported councils and organisations to kick-start more than $434 million worth of community sport and recreation infrastructure across the state, including Colac Bowling Club which this year received a $975,000 loan towards installation of accessible ramps and a new roof over the green.

Other supported projects include East Gippsland Shire Council’s expansion and upgrade of the WORLD Sporting Precinct in Bairnsdale through the provision of a $5 million loan while Glen Eira City Council received a $10 million loan to support the $51.8 million Carnegie Swim Centre Redevelopment.

In addition to providing organisations with access to low-interest loans, Sport and Recreation Victoria makes interest subsidy payments that effectively halve the interest paid by borrowers – saving organisations more money and helping to launch infrastructure projects that support our economic recovery.

The Government has invested more than $1.1 billion in community sport and active recreation infrastructure since 2014.

For further information on the Community Sports Infrastructure Loans Scheme including details of past loan recipients, visit sport.vic.gov.au.