Flood recovery: NSW regional councils to received $280m to repair roads

With an election looming in March, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is injecting $500m into the state’s badly damaged roads.

Flood-ravaged NSW regional councils are poised to receive the bulk of a half-a-billion dollar injection of funds into the state’s badly damaged road network.

Premier Dominic Perrottet will announce on Tuesday that councils across NSW will get access to $500m in funding to fix hundreds of thousands of potholes in the aftermath of repeated major floods.

Gunnedah, Lithgow, Bathurst, Parkes and Forbes have had local roads destroyed by floods with the Newell Highway closed for nearly 50 days between Forbes and West Wyalong.

The cash will support emergency and heavy patching and pothole repair work.

Gunnedah was one of the hardest hit areas of the state, with seven floods in 12 months, including four in the second half of last year.

Gunnedah Shire mayor Jamie Chaffey told The Weekly Times in November that the repair bill for his area’s roads would be “many millions of dollars” and “with our current resources it will take many years to get back to normal.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet visited Eugowra in November after devastating floods hit the area. Picture: Gary Ramage

Mr Perrottet and Deputy Premier Paul Toole will announce the funding in the state’s central west with about $280m expected to go to regional councils while another $220m is being spent in Sydney.

The funding is expected to be delivered to councils within weeks so work can begin early in the new year.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet. Picture: Gary Ramage

A NSW state election is due in March and the move by the NSW Coalition government is set to put pressure on Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to follow suit with a similar commitment.

“We have listened to councils and we understand the pressure they are under from many months of wet weather,” Mr Perrottet told The Daily Telegraph.

“We are making sure our roads are in the best nick possible so NSW families, truckies, farmers and tradies can travel around our state safely.

“We recognise potholes are a major hazard right now.

“Families who hit the road during Christmas would have seen first-hand the scale of the damage caused by last year’s flooding and rain.”

Four councils in the southern Riverina, Berrigan, Edward River, Federation, and Murray, will be well placed to start repair works on roads and bridges after agreeing to pool their resources for the mammoth task before Christmas.

Federation mayor Pat Bourke said the latest funding would build on the initial $50 million made available to regional councils for a “pothole blitz” late last year.

“We can all say it wasn’t enough money initially, but it was amazing the work that was carried out during that period,” he said.

“It brought on some cash to allow us to have staff out at weekends fixing potholes.

“It was desperately needed because it was dangerous out there.

“This next lot of money will be fantastic and a massive help to councils like ours.”

Victorian Opposition Roads spokesman Danny O’Brien said the Labor government was “dragging the chain” on road repairs in regional areas.

“Instead of much needed investment to fix the pot holes, it cut the roads maintenance budget in the last two years,” he said.

“Those cuts must be reversed and more done to fix our crumbling regional roads.”