Geoff Helisma
There are thousands of potholes in Clarence Valley’s roads, which is largely a result of excessive rain caused by two years of La Nina affecting the east coast’s weather patterns.
Local governments all around the state are wrestling with the problem, which was magnified by a series of disastrous flood events.
Both the state and federal governments are stumping up cash, for which councils can compete, to complete repairs that normal operational budgets cannot service.
On July 26, the NSW Government said it would “help turbocharge efforts by local councils to upgrade the roads communities use every day” and called for applications to Round 4 of the Fixing Local Roads program.
Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole said in a joint media release that “hundreds of millions of dollars was [sic] already rolling out to help regional councils right across the state to upgrade local road networks”.
Mr Toole talked up the initiative, saying that “regional communities are already reaping the benefits of this program, with $547 million out the door for 498 projects in the first three rounds”, which works out to be about $1.1million on average for each successful grant application.
“These are small projects making a big difference to the trips people make every day to get to work, school and home again,” he said.
Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said, “NSW has certainly had its fair share of natural disasters and extreme weather, and while we cannot control Mother Nature, we can control our response by improving the standard of our local road network.”
Applications for this program close on Friday, September 9, 2022.
Meanwhile, on Thursday August 11, Mr Farraway announced, in relation to Lismore City Council’s road network, that “repairs to local flood-affected roads and bridges will be fast-tracked”.
He said in a media release that the appointment of a “dedicated technical roads expert would provide advice and support during the region’s recovery, as part of the NSW Government’s expansion of a pilot project that helps councils repair and restore roads and bridges faster”.
Mr Farraway said the initiative is “part of a wider pilot scheme that will be refined and rolled out to other flood-affected councils on the north coast where needed.”
“State and local government procurement processes can be quite daunting for regional councils and hiring a consultant can be costly, the embedded Transport for NSW project director will educate the Council on how to navigate these processes,” he said.
“The director will help them get the critical materials and personnel they need, help develop a strategy on how to accelerate the delivery of road and bridge repairs and provide support with the natural disaster funding application process.
“This approach has been trialled with Armidale Regional Council and has been very successful assisting with its restoration work on the Kempsey to Armidale Road.”
Mr Farraway said that “more than $52 million” has been distributed “to 13 councils to help with their flood recovery”.
“In April, I announced a first of its kind joint $312.5 million disaster recovery funding package, to allow councils to build back their infrastructure better and stronger than the original structure so they aren’t constantly reliving Groundhog Day when an extreme weather event occurs,” he said.
“Councils are regularly meeting with Transport for NSW teams to progress their individual Natural Disaster Recovery Funding, with multiple site inspections covering and assessing submitted claims.
“Transport for NSW has also established a formal natural disaster team with 12 staff supporting Northern Rivers councils to help with natural disaster funding advice, assessment, processing and management.”