The total amount of bushfire recovery funding allocated to Mid-Western Regional Council has now topped $1,275,000 with the latest injection of over a quarter-million dollars.
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On Friday it was announced that the Mid-Western LGA will receive a further $275,000 through the Federal Government's National Bushfire Recovery Agency.
That's on top of the $1 million in funding already received, when Disaster Recovery Funding (DRF) for bushfire affected communities was allocated in January.
At their extraordinary meeting on January 31, Council voted to amend the 2019/20 budget to allocate $1,000,000 towards bushfire recovery functions. Of which, $50,000 was to employ a bushfire recovery liaison Officer and $250,000 was allocated to install 11 large water tanks at strategic locations.
A further report will be brought back to Council at the February ordinary meeting (tomorrow night, Wednesday, February 19), which recommends the allocation of the remaining $700,000.
In announcing the additional $275,000 in Australian Government funding, Federal Member for Calare Andrew Gee, said, "from Running Stream to Olinda, our smaller communities have been devastated by these fires".
"Homes have been lost, businesses have been hit hard, fences are down, stock and pasture losses are significant and there's still a huge issue with respect to clearing burnt trees on private and public property," he said.
"This funding is to support the council to help the people directly impacted by these fires. It's my hope that it can be spent directly on assisting those who have borne the brunt of these blazes. It's really important that their voices on how this money is to be used are heard and I'm sure that the council would be open to community suggestions on the issue.
"Using it to support tree clearing to help make properties safe would be an example of wise use of this funding which I believe would be appreciated by community members. I'm sure there are many other worthy suggestions as well.
"This recovery process is going to be long and hard for many people, but this funding helps give the council the resources it needs to get residents through this very difficult time for our region."
Residents impacted by bushfire are encouraged to call Service NSW on 13 77 88, visit a Service NSW Centre or Mobile Service Centre, or go to service.nsw.gov.au to register for assistance. Secondary to that Council's bushfire liaison officer is available to assist on 0447 092 639.