Got a riverbank or wetland on your property? Ballina Shire Council wants to help you bring it back to health, and it’s offering grants to do it.
Applications are now open for Round One of the Partners for Healthy Waterways Small Grants Program, open to rural landholders across Ballina Shire.
The grants will help landholders restore and care for riparian zones on their land, such as riverbanks and wetlands.
“In September 2025 Ballina Shire Council resolved to establish the small grants program with funding from the Healthy Waterways Program,” said Ballina Shire Council Coordinator Health and Environment Rachael Jenner.
“While this work will be carried out on private property, the flow-on effect will be healthier waterways for our whole community!”
Activities eligible for support include:
- Bush regeneration to restore native vegetation and wetlands, or revegetation with local native plants, along with materials such as mulch and tree guards
- Environmental weed control and follow-up maintenance
- Plantings for erosion control using local native plants indigenous to the site
- Bank stabilisation measures such as coir logs, coir and jute netting, brush matting, or rock placement
- Fencing to keep livestock out of riparian zones
Rachael Jenner said the program was about more than the work on the ground.
“By building local knowledge and skills, and improving collaboration between landholders and Council, we can improve water quality and biodiversity outcomes in the long term,” Rachael Jenner said.
Applications close on Tuesday, 1 December.
Applicants will hear the outcome in January 2027, with funding agreements signed in February. Works can then be carried out from March 2027 through to December 2029.
Landholders are advised to read the guidelines on the council’s website for the full criteria and assessment process.
To apply, complete the online application form at ballina.nsw.gov.au/partners-for-healthy-waterways.
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