Similar sentiments were shared in Batlow, where not-for-profit organisations say they found it hard to compete with larger companies and councils for the much-needed money.

Over $25 million has been allocated to projects in the Snowy Valleys council area through round two of the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery fund. Notably, more than $10 million will go towards a sports centre and evacuation hub in Tumut, and $4 million will help build a sculpture trail through the towns of Adelong, Batlow, Tumbarumba and Tooma.

Neil Hamilton, president of Save Tumbarumba Shire, said that the town is feeling "incredibly disappointed" following the funding announcement last week.

"There's literally not a single community grant for Tumbarumba Shire," he said.

"Numerous grants were put in by community groups, but none of that was successful.

"I think there needs to be a very serious look at how the granting process was done."

Mr Hamilton has called for greater transparency in the funding allocation process, saying that his application for a range of bushfire preparedness measures - including annual bushfire briefings, preparedness plans for rural properties, additional signage and basic fire training for those not in the RFS - was rejected on the basis that his group didn't have project management experience.

"A, they didn't ask for that in the application form, and B, if they'd asked, they'd have seen that our group has over 100 years experience in project management," Mr Hamilton said.

"We need simple, concrete things to prepare us for the next round of bushfires.

"When you give a tennis court to Adelong and put a sculpture trail in, that's not preparedness."

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Mr Hamilton said that there is a sense in Tumbarumba that people have been "utterly deserted" following the devastating Black Summer bushfires of 18 months ago.

"We got hit hard, really hard by the bushfires, and from our perspective the government has done [nothing]," he said.

"It's time that changed."

Max Gordon-Hall, president of Do It For Batlow, said that no town-initiated projects in Batlow were allocated money through this round of funding, with grants either going to the council or larger companies.

SVC received over $1.7 million to upgrade the Batlow pool, and the town will also be part of the new sculpture trail.

Mr Gordon-Hall said the pool needed fixing, and the sculpture trail "will be a game changer for the whole area", but most people in town would like to see the money put towards bushfire preparedness.

"It was disappointing to see Batlow didn't receive anything other than a pool upgrade, particularly when we lost 20 houses in the fires and so many farmers lost fencing, livestock and machinery," he said.

"It was quite upsetting to see funding for bushfire recovery didn't go to those affected by bushfire."

He said that the impact of the Dunns Road fire on Batlow is still visibily obvious when you drive through town, and local attractions like the lookout and bridge that were burnt are yet to be fixed.

Like Mr Hamilton, Mr Gordon-Hall said Batlow hasn't felt supported since the bushfires because of the amount of red tape they have to go through in order to get anything done.

"Our organisation could only afford limited grant writers and accountants," he said.

"Large organisations like councils could afford multiple grant writers and a lot of push behind their applications."

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