Central Coast Council has been selected as one of the 10 highly-impacted local government areas (LGAs) to share in $4.4M for locally-tailored flood recovery initiatives, to be coordinated by the services of a new Community Recovery Officer.
The move is one of eight initiatives announced on July 13 in a $200M package to form Phase 3 of the state’s flood recovery program.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and Member for Terrigal, Adam Crouch, said Phases 1 and 2 saw immediate support provided for the cleanup as well as funding provided to affected businesses, primary producers and not-for-profits.
Phase 3 will focus on infrastructure repair, mental health initiatives, riverbank restoration and local support.
“In this last 18 months we’ve been hit by the triple whammy of bushfires, floods and COVID-19 so every dollar of financial support for our region does count,” Crouch said.
The eight key initiatives include: offering financial assistance for highly impacted industries; rebuilding or repairing community infrastructure; providing $10,000 Rural Landholder Grants; restoring flood-damaged riverbanks; delivering mental health support to targeted groups; restoring Jenolan Caves; employing new Community Recovery Officers; and supporting BlazeAid and other not-for-profit groups that help farmers.
“The Community Recovery Officer role was created to support areas highly impacted by the 2019-20 Black Summer of bushfires and is now being applied to this phase of the flood recovery,” Crouch said.
The new funding has been made available under shared NSW and Commonwealth Government disaster funding arrangements.
Federal Liberal Member for Robertson, Lucy Wicks, said the impact of the severe storms and flooding on our community and industry on the Central Coast had been significant, with damage to local roads, homes and businesses in suburbs like Spencer, Lower Mangrove and Wendoree Park.
“This third phase of recovery support is in recognition and appreciation of the work involved to repair and rebuild these major public assets and infrastructure and will provide support for our local economy,” she said.
Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, Bridget McKenzie, said the Phase 3 package would ensure the long-term recovery of impacted regions.
“We have listened to farmers and producers and included more than $25M to provide grants for rural landholders who do not qualify for the existing supports, as well as funding for environmental recovery initiatives, including riverbank restoration,” she said.
People requiring ongoing flood assistance, support and referral are urged to contact Service NSW on 13 77 88 or online via service.nsw.gov.au/floods
Terry Collins