Allowances for rebuilding residents

Those who are rebuilding their homes or conducting other flood-related reconstruction have been offered a helping hand from Hawkesbury Shire Council.

Mayor Conolly told The Hawkesbury Phoenix that such flood victims will not be charged for DA processing and construction certificates. Their cases will be given priority. Rent abatements are available for those in flood-affected council buildings.

He acknowledged the difficulty for people during the flood that peaked at approximately 12 metres and caused the loss of life.

As cleaning up goes on, the Mayor described our community as “resilient”.

“People just get back up and get going again. The focus immediately turns to getting back to work,” Cllr Conolly said.

“They have been through two floods and a fire and COVID in the last 18 months.”

Mayor Conolly said the cost cuts are a way council can assist in the rebuilding phase.

“Whatever is in our control we aim to address. If we can help in a small way, we want to,” he said.

“The overriding message is if you need help and you've been flood impacted, just call the customer service line and explain your situation. We'll be doing whatever we can to help you, by putting you in touch with whoever you need to speak to if it's not us,” he said.

Council runs mobile recovery centres and hubs in different places throughout the area. They bring together all the different government agencies for people to access assistance or get referrals.

Other issues like riverbank erosion, road and sports field closures are some issues that council is working on to provide solutions.

The NSW Government Flood Task Force is set to make some recommendations in the next fortnight.

New grants and assistance is regularly getting announced. Register with ServiceNSW and share how you’ve been affected to receive up to date help applicable to your situation.

• Topics:

• Floods
• Local Council
• Community