Dubbo Regional Council mayor Mathew Dickerson has thrown his support behind the Local Government NSW declaration of a statewide road emergency.
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"I think it is a sensible move by LGNSW and I fully supported the declaration," he said.
"It is an urgent call for the NSW and Federal Governments to increase their existing road funding commitments in the wake of this year's catastrophic floods.
"These are unprecedented events."
The declaration - and urgent call for the NSW and Federal Governments to increase their existing road funding commitments in the wake of this year's catastrophic floods - was unanimously supported by NSW mayors and councillors attending the congress.
Successive floods and torrential rain events, coupled with chronic funding constraints, has caused $2.5 billion in road damages and caused a collapse of the local and regional road network.
The $40 million backlog in road works in the Dubbo region has increased since that figure was first announced, but Cr Dickerson couldn't provide the Daily Liberal with an exact figure.
"The $40 million road infrastructure backlog was the estimation before these latest series of rain events," he said.
"It takes time, resources and money to calculate our infrastructure backlog and we are not finished with this current series of rain events."
Cr Dickerson said calculating the backlog at the moment would be a complete "waste" of resources as there is still more damage that will occur.
"Just like the 'Gambler' in the song by Kenny Rogers, there is no point calculating our updated infrastructure backlog at the moment and there will be more than enough time when we finally get through our current wet period," he said.
LGNSW President Darriea Turley warned that without additional funding, the economic and social harm caused by this emergency would only get worse.
"More than 220 natural disaster areas have been declared across NSW this year, leaving the road network in a state of disrepair," Cr Turley said.
"Road repair funding pledged to date has fallen well short of what is required so we're declaring this Statewide Roads Emergency to get help before the situation becomes even worse."
Cr Turley said in the coming weeks close to $4 billion worth of crops will need to be harvested and transported.
"Yet harvesting machinery is unable to access some of the most productive regions in our state," she said.
"The wider rural communities supporting Australia's food bowl are on their knees, waiting for the network to be repaired."
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Mayor Dickerson said councils in regional areas were doing everything they could to allow farmers to still use the roads as required during the harvest season.
"The closing of Saxa Road to vehicles over 4.5 tonnes but allowing local vehicles through is an example of this," he said.
With Christmas and school holidays around the corner, council's such as Cabonne Shire Council have contracted workers from the Northern Territory to assist with road repairs, something that Mayor Dickerson hasn't ruled out.
"Dubbo Regional Council will consider any solutions that will deliver solid engineering outcomes with fiscal responsibility," he said.
"The biggest issue at the moment is not necessarily the lack of staff numbers but the inability to repair roads that are still wet."
Cr Dickerson said the wet roads had been "frustrating" but they couldn't control the weather.
"Firstly we need the rain to stop and some roads to dry out. We are working on a number of innovative engineering and financial solutions to then start to return roads to an acceptable level," he said.
Cr Turley said families travelling during the upcoming summer holidays will find their trips to visit family severely disrupted unless councils get the support they need to rebuild the road network.
"When this rain finally recedes, we owe it to our communities that they gain access to their road network as quickly as possible," she said.
As part of the Statewide Roads Emergency, LGNSW is calling for:
- An acceleration and significant increase in funding for the $1.1 billion Fixing Local Roads and Fixing Country Bridges program
- A boost to Road Block Grant funding to compensate for the damage to the regional road network
- New funding to provide councils with plant machinery and skilled workers to expedite road repairs.
"NSW communities are facing an unprecedented disaster which requires an unprecedented response," Cr Turley said.
"I call on the NSW and Federal Governments to take action on the Statewide Roads Emergency and help our regional and rural communities bounce back from the devastation caused by this year's floods."
With the increased danger on the roads, Cr Dickerson encouraged residents to drive to the conditions.
"There is an incredible extra responsibility on drivers to drive to conditions at the moment," he said.
"One tyre repair business in Dubbo told me they are repairing six tyres a day damaged by the roads. The situation is the same along the entire eastern seaboard so wherever people travel, they must travel to the conditions."
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