Emergency roads funds fast-tracked

Narrabri Shire is one of eight local government areas in NSW to get access to a fast-tracked emergency fund for repairs to flood-affected roads.

The state government announced on Friday afternoon that $15 million would be used to assist councils in western and central NSW to start repairing critical infrastructure and support future recovery works.

Narrabri Shire’s extensive road network has been particularly damaged by recent major flooding events.

The government announcement comes as Narrabri Shire mayor Ron Campbell will today urge council to back a request to declare a state wide roads emergency.

In a report to be tabled at today’s council meeting, Cr Campbell described the damage to the shire road network as “disastrous” and that council is facing a task that is beyond the reasonable scope of any local government authority.

“We face an unprecedented disaster that requires an unprecedented response,” the mayor’s report states.

Deputy Premier Paul Toole said restoring road access as quickly as possible is critical to ensure the supplies, support and equipment needed to recover from this disaster can get where it’s needed.

“With harvest underway, we also need to ensure roads are up to the task of carrying the additional truck and heavy machinery to get this crop off and to receival sites.

“This cash is being directed straight to councils which, with their detailed knowledge of their local region and roads, are best placed to identify those critical priority areas.”

“Natural disaster-declared councils will still be able to submit their Natural Disaster Funding Recovery claims once those damage assessments are complete,” Deputy Premier Paul Toole said.

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said it was critical to start the repair and recovery process as soon as possible to reconnect communities and the State’s supply chain.

Mr Farraway visited the shire at the start of the month, following the major flooding event in October, and saw the extent of flood damage in a helicopter tour with the mayor.

“Regional NSW relies on an accessible road network, which is why I worked with Transport for NSW to ensure emergency funding is in bank accounts of councils today,” Mr Farraway said.

“We will come back from these floods stronger, and I will be raising with the federal government the need to expand the Betterment Program currently in place for councils in northern NSW to the west.

“Our natural disaster funding needs to allow councils to rebuild their infrastructure to be more resilient against natural disasters to keep communities connected.”