Snowy Valleys Council Recovery has Commenced
Published on 06 January 2020
With the current disaster still very much live planning for recovery has commenced. This is going to be a long journey and current priorities are keeping people alive and reuniting families, getting a roof over everyone’s head, getting food and fuel into the area, getting and keeping our transport, water, sewer, power and telecommunications infrastructure operating, cleaning up and getting businesses re-established.
A Regional Recovery Committee has been established covering Snowy Valleys, Bega Valley, Eurobodalla, Shoalhaven, Snowy Mountains, and Queanbeyan-Palerang Councils. General Managers from the six Councils teleconferenced with the Office of Emergency Management on Friday. The State will bring all key agencies together to work with us to assess damage and needs and commence the critical stages. Bega Council’s General Manager Leanne Barnes is Deputy Chair of this group.
A Recovery Coordinator has been appointed by the Premier to cover our area. Dick Adams a former senior police commander has been announced and will visit the region next week.
Funding has been announced for some activities and further information on this will be circulated this week. The Federal and State Governments are committed to supporting our community through this process over the coming weeks, months, years.
Council will establish a Council recovery action committee which will meet this week. The key areas of focus will be health and well-being, agriculture and livestock, business and tourism, infrastructure, waste and environment, donations and disaster relief, communications and community engagement. We will also look to refocus our Council “business as usual” activities as we deal with the challenges ahead. Council will consider reports on this at its Extraordinary January meeting which will be held on Tuesday 28 January 2020.
As we move through the upcoming week State agencies will work with us to look at how we transition from the current evacuation centres to disaster welfare assistance and how this will work to assist communities across our whole area. Be assured we are working on it.
We will keep updating recovery information on Council’s website and social media and community meetings will be held across the area commencing in the coming weeks. Recovery information will be released regularly in a whole range of formats so that all members of the community can access it.
Please continue to focus on your safety and to monitor Council’s Facebook and website. We are aware that many people who have lost property will have limited communications so we will continue to get information out in as many ways as possible.
Clean up and insurance; the NSW State Government has advised that it will cover site clean-up costs for all destroyed/damaged properties – insured and not insured. This means that insurance payments can be fully utilised for rebuilding.
One thing learnt from the Tathra Fires experiences in 2018 is that people need to take their time in assessing what is the best action for them in relation to insurance. Contact your insurance company and let them know you have been impacted. We know that insurance assessors will be eager to get in to the area but it has to be safe for this to occur.
There is no rush to make a claim and it is best to take your time. The Insurance Council of Australia https://www.insurancecouncil.com.au/ is a great resource and can provide advice, answer questions and Legal Aid https://www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/ is also available for support. We have previously found both organisations really supportive in working with community to ensure the best outcome for those affected in such a devastating time.
ENDS