Accusations of unlawful processes, claims green groups were being held "to ransom" and a councillor voting against a motion she seconded dominated a heated debate as Gympie Region councillors tried to unravel the "mess" around their environmental funding grants yesterday.
Only one of nine applications for funding drawn from the council's Environmental Levy was deemed valid by staff, and only 40 per cent of the $196,000 up for grabs was recommended to be awarded across four projects proposed by the Koala Action Group, Cooloola Coastcare, Mary River Catchment Co-ordinating Committee, and Gympie and District Landcare.
The groups had already waited months for the grants to be awarded, a delay they criticised and called "unprecedented".