A new series of pilot funding agreements between New South Wales councils and the state government is helping repair critical infrastructure damaged during natural disasters.
More than $296 million in fast tracked new funding has flowed to regional New South Wales councils to repair damaged roads and transport infrastructure in just three months.
The money flowed between April and June after the state government announced the delivery of a series of new pilot funding agreements between councils, the NSW Reconstruction Authority and Transport for NSW.
Before the introduction of Tripartite Agreements, councils had to spend their own money repairing infrastructure before they could be reimbursed with the disaster funding which has come from the Federal and New South Wales Governments through Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
In March eight councils signed up to the New South Wales Government’s new disaster funding Tripartite Agreement pilot, enabling them to access advance funding at the beginning of each stage of reconstruction works.
The Tripartite Agreements mean less financial pressure on councils, faster repairs for communities after natural disasters and better collaboration between state and local government agencies.
Following the success of the initial pilot Tripartite Agreements, the New South Wales Government signed up more councils to help them unlock faster funding.
Under tranche two of the program, eight councils have already signed up and three more councils are in the process of signing up.
New South Wales Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully, said, “When a region is hit by a natural disaster, the last thing councils need to worry about is coming up with the cash to restore essential road and transport infrastructure.
“The new pilot agreement the New South Wales Government has struck with councils will now help more councils get on with the job faster, knowing they have the funds they will so desperately need.”
New South Wales Minister for Emergency Services, Jihad Dib, said, “The Tripartite Agreements are a great example of government working with communities to develop new solutions that improve disaster response.
“We are committed to building on the success of these agreements and rolling out more support to help communities rebuild faster after disasters.”
New South Wales Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Jenny Aitchison, said the government’s new approach to disaster relief funding has been created to quickly support people in impacted communities by getting the money flowing quicker, and the road repairs delivered as fast as possible.
“Prior to the 2022 natural disasters, state budgets only allocated around $190 million per year for disaster recovery for roads,” Minister Aitchison said.
“With our record-breaking investment in this year’s budget of $3.3 billion for natural disaster road recovery, faster support is on the way for flood affected councils.”
Image: Bilanol/shutterstock.com
