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Council has secured funding to develop a strategic plan for the community to build disaster resilience for the next 20 years. “The Warrumbungle local government area was hit by three separate natural disaster events between November 2021 and September 2022 and has also seen major bushfires,” said Warrumbungle Shire Council Mayor, Councillor Ambrose Doolan. “Preparing a strategy for disaster resilience will help Council and the community to not only prepare for these events in the future, but to prepare for the recovery from natural disaster.” Preparing a strategy for disaster resilience will be driven by community consultation and a review of existing infrastructure, particularly roads. “Our area is home to a large number of rural and remote properties, as well as roads that provide access to National Parks and State Forest. Before the natural disaster event of November 2021, the single biggest claim for disaster assistance that Council had ever made was under $700,000. The damage from November 2021 alone is in the region of $12 million, with a further two natural disasters in less than a year after that,” said Cr Doolan. “Simply put, our Council and community had never before faced the kind of damage caused by natural disaster that we are now seeing.” “The Warrumbungle Shire is vulnerable to events such as storms and bushfires, which have recently occurred on an unprecedented scale. When events like these occur, we want to know that emergency vehicles can use the roads, and that our rural residents can access the services they need,” said Cr Doolan. The strategy for disaster resilience will look at the risks our communities face as a result of natural disasters, focusing on improving infrastructure, community awareness, and environmental improvements such as clearing debris from waterways. Funding of $112,775 is coming from the NSW Government’s Disaster Risk Reduction Fund for the development of the strategic plan. “We are very grateful to the NSW Government for this support, which recognises the need to better equip and prepare communities for future natural disaster events” concluded Cr Doolan.
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Last Updated: 20 Feb 2023