The funds come via the government’s $78 million drought communities program which will be shared between 60 eligible councils across the country.

Gunnedah Shire Council confirmed the shire had received its share of the funds at an extraordinary council meeting on Wednesday.

The council’s director of corporate and community services Colin Formann said it was unclear what the funds would be used for at this stage.

“The council has received confirmation of $1 million of funding from the federal government,” Mr Formann said.

“However, at this stage we are unsure of the perimeters or guidelines in place surrounding the use of the funds.

“All we know at the moment is that any projects funded by the drought communities program must be complete by June 30, 2019.”

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The news of the funding was welcomed by all nine of the councillors including Colleen Fuller.

“This really is terrific news,” Cr Fuller said.

“We now have a fair bit of money that can go towards helping our agricultural sector in what I imagine will be a number of different ways.

“To me what is especially pleasing about this funding is that it will be very beneficial for our shire next year when this drought is likely to still be having a major impact.”

The council’s general manger Eric Groth said planning would begin once the federal government clearly outlined guidelines for use of the funds.

“We have already received some suggestions from councillors about how best to use the funds,” Mr Groth said.

“However, it is a bit hard to know what ideas to pursue or what ideas are feasible without knowing what perimeters are in place.

“In the mean time I would like to encourage councillors to brainstorm ideas and refer them to staff for us to look into.”