NSW bushfires: Locals’ anger at councils for sitting on $1m grants
Fire-ravaged communities across NSW are frustrated that councils are failing to spend the $1 million bushfire recovery grant handed down by the Federal Government in January.
NSW
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Councils in some of the state’s most bushfire ravaged areas are still sitting on a $1m bushfire recovery grant from the federal government that was handed out in January.
Walcha and Central Coast Councils are yet to allocate any of the funds that were provided by the Morrison government to help “quickly rebuild vital infrastructure and strengthen community resilience.”
Walcha Council which faced the wrath of bushfires in November last year has still not decided how it will spend the million dollars.
“We are thankful to receive it and will ensure it goes towards projects that have a positive impact on our bushfire affected residents, our whole community and our businesses,” a council spokeswoman told The Daily Telegraph.
“We are waiting on a response from the government as to what the specific guidelines will be regarding this funding initiative.”
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When asked by The Daily Telegraph if any initiatives had been taken, council said the mayor had plans to travel to Canberra to advocate “regarding significant impact the bushfires have had on our local business, and also that it has identified risks to our community regarding the lack of effective telecommunications in some areas of our LGA that suffered from the bushfire risk” but none of the $1m has so far been allocated to helping businesses.
But a National Bushfire Recovery Agency spokesman said their guidelines on how to spend the money were very clear.
All that is required is that the money be spent on “bushfire related” projects, and the agency be informed of how the grant was spent in 12 months’ time from when it was handed down.
Central Coast Council has also not decided how it intends to spend the grant, and is still assessing the damage, a spokeswoman said.
Inverell Council said it would be allocating the sum to “road repairs and safety upgrades to road assets”.
The council spokeswoman did not respond when asked if any of the $1m fund would be allocated to any other facilities other than roads.
In January, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the funding was intended to rebuild roads, infrastructure, employ staff to help with recovery and hold events to bring the community and tourists together.
Just three of the 33 NSW councils – Hawkesbury, Mid-West, and Snowy Monaro — told The Daily Telegraph that they were using the funds to hire recovery liaison officers.
Eurobodalla Shire Council has allocated $38,000 on a Spendmap Data Package which will give council full data on the economic yield by the council on local spend and visitor spend in the area.
A memorial will be created in memory of fallen firefighters Geoffrey Keaton and Andrew O’Dwyer by Wollondilly Shire Council as part of $550,000 which they have allocated to infrastructure in significantly impacted areas like Buxton, Bargo and Oakdale.
Batemans Bay local Milton Leslight who worked at the area’s evacuation centre when the fires unfolded, said the community is outraged that even councils that have allocated the funds are failing to get the money out the door.
“It’s been pretty disappointing. There is hostility amongst the community because they had done nothing. There were funds put aside and it is still not getting to people. It’s more frustrating when they’ve allocated the funds but done nothing,” he said.
“I’m told by a very reliable source that there have been 16 suicides in Mogo since the fires. On average land drops between 10 to 30 per cent after fires. Our township is like roadkill. It’s rotting from within.”
While some councils have allocated the funds, only a small portion has been spent thus far.
As at April 14 Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council had spent just over $350,000, with about $650,000 still with council.
While Singleton council has allocated the funds, they said they were prevented from spending them due to COVID-19.
“Council has informed the Office of Local Government of how the money will be used. However, our spending of the grant funds has been hampered by the current COVID-19 crisis,” Mayor Sue Moore said.
“These programs will begin to be rolled out in the coming weeks in consultation with Singleton Business Chamber, Singleton Interagency and other stakeholders.”