3 January 2023
Councils welcome pothole funding
NSW councils have welcomed the State Government’s commitment of a $500 million package as a great start in the mission to repair $2.5 billion in road damage following 2022’s floods and torrential rains.
The package – announced by Premier Dominic Perrottet and Deputy Premier Paul Toole on January 3 – is designed to support emergency and heavy patching of the pothole damage to roads, with the money expected to be available to councils by the end of the month.
It follows the declaration of a Statewide Roads Emergency by Local Government NSW (LGNSW) late last year, in the wake of more than 220 natural disasters declared across NSW during 2022.
LGNSW President Darriea Turley said the $2.5 billion roads damage bill caused by these disasters was additional to a backlog of $1.9 billion identified by the NRMA in their 2020/21 Fix Our Broken Roads Report, released last month.
“Councils welcome this $500 million funding injection, and we are incredibly grateful that the NSW Government has recognised the statewide roads crisis and the imminent collapse of the local and regional road network,” Cr Turley said.
“It’s also great to hear that the funding will begin to flow almost immediately, while we are in a period of dry weather that allows councils to get out there and start repairing the damage.
“This money cannot come soon enough if we are to even begin to address the longstanding maintenance issues with our roads, which were already significantly impacting the state’s economy before the steady succession of weather events in 2022.”
Cr Turley said credit should also go to Regional Transport and Roads Minister Sam Faraway, who had consistently acknowledged the need to get the money out there and boots on the ground to commence road repair and reconstruction.
“We are all painfully aware of the magnitude of the task before us,” Cr Turley said.
“This one-off funding is a great start, but what we desperately need is a significant and ongoing increase in funding for the $1.1 billion Fixing Local Roads and Fixing Country Bridges program, and an ongoing boost to annual Road Block Grant funding.
“Without an ongoing boost, there is a very real risk that the emergency patches and repairs from this very welcome $500 million will be washed away by future weather events.
“Getting our roads up to scratch and having the ongoing funding to keep them there will not only save NSW and its people money in the long run, it will also help support the economic growth this state needs.
“Good roads are good for us all: for business, for our agricultural sector, and for everyday drivers who just want to get to where they need to be safely and without damage to their vehicles.”
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