Following hard lobbying from the River Cares organisation and Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Adam Crouch, the Back Home flood grants program has been expanded to include Spencer and Gunderman.
Announced earlier this month, the program made cash grants of up to $20,000 available only to flood-affected residents in the LGAs of the Hawkesbury, Ballina, Byron, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed, leaving devastated Lower Hawkesbury residents unable to apply.
River Cares President, Robyn Downham, has been agitating ever since for affected residents in the Central Coast LGA to be included in the eligibility criteria, with the news coming through on April 21 that the program was to be extended to embrace townships in the Lower Hawkesbury.
“I am so pleased to announce that we have been successful,” Downham said.
“There are at least 20 householders who can now have the financial means to repair structural damage to their properties such as replacing collapsed roofs and addressing other issues that were not acknowledged by the insurance companies.”
Downham said Crouch had fought hard for the communities to be included in eligibility criteria, meeting with Premier Dominic Perrottet and Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience, Steph Cooke.
“On behalf of the Spencer and Gunderman communities I would like to thank Adam Crouch for his indomitable perseverance and determination to achieve this wonderful result,” she said.
Crouch said he welcomed confirmation that residents of the Central Coast region effected by the recent floods including Spencer and Gunderman will now qualify for the Back Home flood grants.
“I thank the community for reaching out to me and entrusting me with their concerns, including Robyn Downham, President of River Cares,” Crouch said.
“I look forward to the community being able to receive the necessary support to assist in their recovery.”
Meanwhile Wisemans Ferry Rd remains closed to the general public, although it appears many motorists are ignoring the signage
Council crews are working full-time to get the road re-opened and have identified 131 action items which need to be worked through.
It is anticipated the road will reopen in three-four weeks with localised narrowing, reduced speeds ad traffic measures in place.
Meanwhile, residents of Spencer and the Lower Hawkesbury have access.
But Downham said there was concern around the fact that non-residents were ignoring the signage and continuing to traverse the road.
“The general public continue to ignore the signs and continue driving through Spencer on to Wisemans Ferry,” she said.
“On Easter Sunday there was a serious motorbike accident at Gunderman Creek caused by a massive crater on Wisemans Ferry Rd.
“This person had to be airlifted to hospital.”
Downham said while the road remained in a precarious state, non-residents should obey the signage and leave access open for residents only.
Terry Collins
Around 20 homes were severely flood-affected