Cr Horan said the shire had sustained about $3.5 million worth of damage in the past week’s flood that threatened to burst through the town’s weakened levee and saw a thousand residents ordered to evacuate their homes.

Cr Horan said every day the levee spent in its current condition put the town in jeopardy should another flood happen.

The Coonamble Shire Council spent yesterday planning its attack to repair assets damaged in the flood.

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally declared Coonamble and other councils in the northwestern part of the State natural disaster areas on Monday, which would provide “much-needed longer term help to residents, primary producers, business owners and councils”.

Cr Horan attributes problems with the town’s levee as impetus for the natural disaster declaration.

Cr Horan said he had spoken to the Premier about the weak spots in the levee.

The Government has told Coonamble council to fix it, but the council needs funding to enable it to do that, Cr Horan said.

“It would cost $7 million for a new levee, to replace and build a higher one, or half the amount for one that was acceptable,” he said.

“There’s no way we can fund the levee.”

Council staff met yesterday morning to plan its attack on assessing damage on roads and the levee.

“The processing takes time, (but I’m hopeful) that in three to four weeks we’ll have something into the Government,” Cr Horan said.

“Our biggest problem is fear of red tape, we have to deal with the RTA, we’ve found it can be difficult in the past.

“We hope it can be streamlined, the process hurried up.”

Cr Horan said a new levee was an investment that could save the Government from a repeat of the costly exercise of the past week, where scores of State Emergency Service workers were flown in to town.

The Warren Shire was also declared a natural disaster, leaving Warren mayor Rex Wilson “relieved”.