Councillors at last week’s meeting of Clarence Valley Council praised the ‘Flood Recovery and Resilience Update’ which provides a summary of the current disaster recovery status and how additional funding is being used.
The report acknowledged that, due to the extent of damage across the region, resources have not been available to fully execute the quantum of restoration works as quickly as the broader community would like. The report illustrates, however, that the amount of road maintenance operations in 2022 is significantly higher than average years.
“Stats like 115,000 tonnes of gravel re-sheet material placed on unsealed roads – that’s about six times what Council would usually do,” said Cr Pickering, who moved the motion to note the report. “So, the size of work being accomplished to repair and rebuild post floods really is remarkable.”
Cr Karen Toms also praised the achievements of Council staff.
“These people who work in our community on Council are part of our community, and we should stop throwing brickbats because they are doing an amazing job, on top of business as usual,” Cr Toms said. “We’ve got $2.5 billion worth of assets to look after, and when they get bashed around with six disasters in two years, it’s difficult to catch up.”
Cr Novak seconded the motion.
“It’s a great end of year Christmas gift to go out knowing our staff have done this extraordinary job for our community,” she said. “I know we have a lot of naysayers on social media knocking us for this and that, but when you read the evidence of what our staff and contractors have done for this community, it’s an extraordinary effort from everybody.”

Source: CVC Communications