The Federal Government has heeded a call by Federal Member for Macquarie, Susan Templeman, to extend the deadline for major bushfire recovery grant funding.

Ms Templeman requested Emergency Management Minister, Bridget McKenzie, extend the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants program deadline earlier this month, due to the effect the current COVID lockdown was having on local groups’ ability to respond.

“I was contacted by a number of community organisations and service providers in the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury that wanted apply for funding, but didn’t have the time or capacity to put together a detailed grant proposal in the middle of a hard lockdown,” Ms Templeman said.

“Community organisations in Macquarie have faced a relentless, sustained effort since 2019, and this lockdown has only compounded the situation.

“There was the Gospers Mountain fire that started the Black Summer bushfires in September of 2019, then a summer of intense firefighting on several fronts; to floods, storms and landslides in early 2020, the first wave of COVID19 lockdowns, more flooding in the Hawkesbury, and now the second COVID19 crisis. These community organisations just haven’t stopped.

“Put simply, these are the very organisations who have been on the frontline helping disadvantaged families and supporting traumatised communities through these successive crises for two straight years.

“Several of these organisations have decades of experience in community support, and would use their experience and knowledge to tailor excellent proposals for funding programs that are targeted to what is really needed and would lead to the greatest benefit.

“They really needed an extension of time to put together detailed pr