Regional roads and bushfire disaster response were two of the big issues on the table when NSW Shadow Minister for Local Government, MP Greg Warren came to Lismore today.

On a listening tour of the Northern Rivers with Lismore MP Janelle Saffin, Mr Warren engaged in roundtable discussions with local councils, including Lismore City Council.

Mr Warren said that after meeting with Lismore Council, he had heard it had “some serious financial issues to navigate through and they are taking steps to manage that”. 

“It is deeply disturbing to hear from Lismore Council that it is only now receiving the final payment from State Government for the 2017 floods - nearly three years ago - and that the payment fell well short,” Mr Warren said.

“It’s important we have that money in local council pockets so they can use it for recovery efforts from the recent bushfires.”

Mr Warren and Ms Saffin both discussed the issue of the State Government taking back control of a number of regional roads and providing funding to maintain them.

Mr Warren said there were up to 15,000 kilometres of roads in the local region, across the four local councils in Ms Saffin’s electorate (Lismore City, Kyogle, Tweed Shire and Tenterfield Shire), and that the government was slow to make any commitment about funding them.

“There is no certainty, but there is some loose language from the government about that commitment,” he said. “The government needs to clarify what they will be doing with those roads and provide councils and communities with certainty,” he said.

Lismore City Council has identified a number of priority council roads they would like to see under State Government control, including Wyrallah Road, Nimbin Road, Kyogle Road, Dunoon Road, Blue Knob Road and Coraki Road.

Ms Saffin said the taking back of responsibility of these local regional roads was a State Government election process and she had written to NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole last October, asking when his independent expert panel would be appointed and how councils will have to justify priority roads under new arrangements.

“I also asked for a commitment that local councils would be able to use their own road gangs so that the employment would stay here, and it wouldn’t be contracted out beyond our regions,” Ms Saffin said.

“I also put forward a list of identified roads from the four councils in my electorate of Lismore.

“I got correspondence back from the minister saying it’s complex, we haven’t set up the panel yet and he does recognise the concern I expressed about keeping local workers in jobs - but there’s no commitment and certainty around it. 

“These roads are costly for local councils to upkeep.

“All of us complain about roads and potholes - we do want the state government to take back financial responsibility for the maintenance of them - but we also want to make sure the jobs are kept local.”

With no timeframe given on the rollout, Ms Saffin said “it’s frustrating - but I don’t give up.”

Mr Warren said the ongoing cost shifting from the NSW State Government to local governments to provide needed infrastructure and services has already amounted to around $900 million.

Mr Warren was concerned about how the recovery process is going following bushfires which impacted on the Nimbin area last year.

“The feedback I’m getting from community is that the disaster response from government has not been quick enough,” he said. “I want to see immediate funding made available in the right places.

“The devastation suffered in parts of the North Coast is absolutely heartbreaking.

“Regional areas are being left behind - we still have people living in tents here.

“But it is inspiring to see how much communities throughout our state – like here – have rallied together to support each other.”

During his visit, Ms Saffin also arranged for Mr Warren, who is also the Minister for Veterans, to meet with Lismore RSL Sub-Branch Vice President Darryl Hawke and Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia Far North Coast (NSW) Sub-Branch Incorporated President Sheldon Maher OAM.