Council welcomes funding opportunity to fix potholes on regional roads

Federation Council has confirmed it will apply for a share of $50 million in funding to help regional and rural councils fix the increasing number of potholes brought on by this year’s extreme wet weather.

The NSW Liberal and Nationals Government announced funding will be made available under the Fixing Local Roads Pothole Repair Round for 95 regional councils and authorities to help repair potholes on regional and local roads.

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said NSW has had more than its fair share of natural disasters and extreme weather and that more than 135,000 potholes have been repaired on State roads in regional NSW since February.

“We certainly have plenty more potholes that still require attention, particularly on council-managed roads, which is why our Government is putting more money on the table for councils to repair potholes on the roads regional communities use every day,” Mr Farraway said.

“This funding is available to help every regional council across the state to carry out emergency repairs and would fix roughly more than 420,000 potholes on their roads.”

Federation Council Mayor, Pat Bourke said the funding announcement was welcoming news and confirmed Federation Council would be lodging an application.

“Council appreciates the funding that has been offered to assist us in our flood recovery efforts,” Mayor Bourke said.

“We need to start somewhere, and this fund will enable us to do that. We still have a long way to go, with the damage bill within our LGA expected to be in the millions. Throughout my time in Local Government, I have never seen our roads in such a state following widespread flooding and years of consistent wet weather conditions. We will continue to inspect road damage and advocate to our State and Federal members for more funding opportunities for our regions.”

The new funding builds on the $500 million invested by the NSW Government through the Fixing Local Roads program to help regional councils repair, maintain and seal local roads across the state.

Applications for funding are now open with funding expected to be announced in November so councils can begin work as soon as possible.