It's what inspires us to apply for that new job, to hit the gym, or to try learning a new skill.

It's vital, especially in challenging times like these, to remain hopeful about what the future can bring if we just take a single step towards our goal. Launceston relies on the positivity of our enormous volunteer community, for example, who make so many of our wonderful events possible.

We rely on the positivity of our CBD cleansing crews, who are known by retailers across the city for their professionalism and friendliness, even in the early hours of the morning. As a council, we rely on positivity from our community when trying new initiatives, launching new projects or applying for new funding streams.

By and large, Launceston is filled with positive people, and I believe we also have a positive council, one which proactively works to achieve better outcomes for our city. The organisation has developed the Greater Launceston Plan, completed the reconstruction of the city's flood Levee defence system, constructed Riverbend Park and the Seaport pedestrian bridge, redeveloped Macquarie House, and overhauled some of our tired public spaces.

We've successfully lobbied for the continuation of the Hawthorn agreement, undertaken a complex review of the structure of our organisation, and we've approved major development proposals - including the Verge Hotel and Fragrance Hotel.

All of these projects began as mere seeds of ideas, requiring an enormous amount of positivity to see through from start to completion. A lot of the day-to-day work we undertake involves discussions with private businesses, property developers, community groups, industry bodies and different tiers of government.

Again, this is work we carry out with a positive frame of mind, with hope for the future: encouraging new businesses to set up in Launceston, guiding developers through the assessment and approvals process, or lobbying for funds for important community projects. Another example is the filing of grant applications and funding requests to other levels of government. This is a routine task for the City of Launceston, and one we do to the best of our ability on behalf of our community, with a positive view of what might be possible in the future.

Despite the power of positivity, we're often unsuccessful in this regard -- there are many worthy projects around Australia, and there are limited funds to go around.

But occasionally, the power of positivity pays off and we see funding commitments for fantastic project proposals like the Northern suburbs community hub, upgrades for the Albert Hall, the River Health Action Plan, and the Launceston City Heart Project. We've seen another example in recent weeks, with the City of Launceston receiving a grant from Round 4 of the federal government's Building Better Regions Fund to support some exciting new proposals in our CBD. This was a funding stream open to communities across Australia for infrastructure projects. It aimed to create jobs, drive economic growth, and build stronger regional communities. It was open to regional communities for infrastructure projects providing economic and social benefits, and these projects did not have to be directly associated with drought relief.

Among a range of eligibility criteria, applicants were required to use the official Bureau of Meteorology rainfall data to demonstrate an extended period in their region with a significant decline in rainfall.

Bureau data shows large areas within the Launceston municipality and across Northern Tasmania were rated as severely rainfall deficient over 20 months to December last year when the application was submitted.

In addition, data from both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 years showed water flow in the kanamaluka/Tamar Estuary catchment was well below average; flows were similar to those recorded during the worst of the millennial drought.

Finally, before beginning work on a submission, the council and the Co-ordinator General's Office checked with the federal government that Launceston was eligible to apply and were answered in the affirmative.

The outcome is that $10m in funding has been made available to Launceston and it comes at a time when Launceston is crying out for job-creating projects to weather the storm created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It will help create jobs, keep people in work, and build new infrastructure - something we can all be positive about.