Heritage Grants

To be eligible for this program, you must be undertaking conservation work, or preparing documents that will inform future conservation work, on a property listed as a heritage item on Schedule 5 of a draft or current version of the Wollongong Local Environmental Plan.

Works that go beyond minor work or maintenance require Development Consent. If your planned activity needs development consent or other approvals, you will need to make sure you have all approvals before you can receive funding. See our Plan and Build pages for more information on approvals.

Heritage grants can be used for projects that start after 1 July in the year you apply and are finished by 31 May the following year.

Examples of projects that are supported through this program include:

• Repairing, maintaining, or reinstating missing items on heritage places
• Preparing technical reports or a Conservation Management Plan that will lead to conservation work.

Council will consider the following criteria when assessing applications.

• Does the project provide significant conservation outcomes and demonstrate good conservation practice?
• Does the project contribute to broader conservation goals? For example, is the item in a conservation area, part of a group of heritage items, and/or likely to encourage the conservation of other heritage items?
• Is the heritage item accessible to the public, or highly visible from a public place?
• Is the project urgently needed to protect a heritage item?
• Would not doing the project be a risk for damage or loss?
• Is the heritage item used as a private residence or by a not-for-profit group? (ie not as a business premises)
• Will any innovative methods or technology be used?
• Will the project provide employment opportunities or heritage experience for local tradespeople?
• Has the project, or the site of the project, recently received funding from Council or another source?

Note that a project does not need to meet all of these criteria to be considered. Applications will be scored and ranked in order of priority.

You can talk with Council's Heritage Officer about your project before you submit an application. To do this, please call (02) 4227 7111 or use the button at the bottom of this page to make an online enquiry.

If your application is successful, you'll need to sign an agreement with Council to receive funds and follow the Conditions That Apply to All Projects PDF, 62.59 KB.

We generally will not provide funding for these activities:

• Work that is not conservation work.
• Purchase of a heritage building, site or item.
• New additions to a heritage building. This includes new internal fittings like kitchens and bathrooms.
• Relocation of a heritage building.
• Work on government-owned buildings or sites, except for some grave conservation work to significant graves within cemeteries, or similar situations.
• Projects that have already received substantial assistance from Council.
• Work where assistance is reasonably available from another source, including large strata bodies or developers.
• Projects that have already been completed, unless the works received pre-approval from Council's Heritage Officer as urgent, and you were given written confirmation that they could still be considered for this funding.
• Applications by anyone who has previously received support from Council that was not acquitted.

Funding is available on a dollar-for-dollar-spent basis and Council will consider funding up to 50% of the total project cost, to a maximum of $10,000 (excluding GST). We reserve the right to offer less than 50% of the total project cost.

Funding of more than $10,000 may be considered in some cases, but only with the approval of Council.

Please note, approved grants are paid as a reimbursement when projects are finished and proof of your expenses has been given to Council.

Follow the steps below to apply for a grant through this program:

1. Contact our Heritage Officer. Once you have worked out the details for your project, we recommend you talk with our Heritage Officer, Carly Boag, before making an application. If the project is large or complicated, we may also suggest that you work with a conservation specialist.
   
   To get in touch, call (02) 4227 7552 or email our Heritage Officer.
2. Do background research. This will help you show why your proposed work is appropriate.
   
   As part of your research, you may need to talk to specialists (eg to ask "is Colorbond a suitable material in this case?") and / or research the history of the property. Wollongong City Libraries' Local Studies and Illawarra Images collections are a good place to start.
3. Work out your project details. Decide in detail what work you want to carry out. This should be put down in a clear item-by-item job schedule.
4. Prepare plans and sketches. Depending on the size of the job, you may need to attach plans or sketches to your application for funding. You can also include other relevant information like the proposed colour scheme, samples of finishes and background information about the heritage item.
5. Get quotes. You should get at least two quotes for the proposed work. Put these costs alongside the schedule of work you have prepared.
6. Take photographs of the building or place of your proposed project. Include close-ups of any particular job to be done. Include these photos with your application.
7. Fill in the application form PDF, 95.97 KB and return it to Council with your attachments by 31 March 2025.
8. Sign the Conditions That Apply to All Projects PDF, 62.59 KB form and make sure it's included with your application.