Campaspe Shire Council Mayor, Chief Executive Officer and Director Emergency Management this week met with the Minister for Emergency Services The Hon. Jaclyn Symes in Rochester to discuss Council's key flood recovery advocacy priorities.
Mayor Cr Rob Amos said, "We appreciate Minister Symes coming to Campaspe to discuss our key flood recovery priorities in person.
"We covered a range of issues important to the successful recovery of our impacted communities. These issues ranged from the need for continued funding for community wellbeing and repair of community infrastructure to strengthening our shire's flood preparedness, mitigation measures and response capability."
Key advocacy priorities discussed at the meeting included:
- Funding for dedicated flood recovery positions to enable Council to deliver flood recovery activities without impacting business-as-usual services to the community.
- Funding to review and update the Rochester Flood Plan. This will enable potential future flood mitigation measures, warning systems and triggers to be developed based on the latest information.
- A commitment of continued funding for long-term support services for residents impacted by the floods.
- Funding for a new Rochester aquatic facility to replace the destroyed Rochester swimming pool. The facility is highly valued by the community, not only for local swimming events and activities but also as an important social hub that supports the health and wellbeing of the community.
- Funding for stages 2 and 3 of the Aquatic Reserve Open Spaces Project. This will provide:
- Accessible and shared paths with town linkages
- Safety improvements including path balustrades, path lighting and landscaped exclusion zones
- Event services including, 3 phase electrical connections, path and space lighting, and drinking water tap points
- Sheltered accessible BBQs, picnic settings and seats
- Improved irrigation and landscaping
- Feature lighting including flood lighting and up-lighting of trees
- A commitment that Emergency Management Victoria will approve Council's application for funding via the Australian Government's Disaster Ready Fund. Council's application seeks funding for:
- review and updating of the Echuca Moama Torrumbarry Flood Study
- preparation of a Flood Risk Management Plan
- purchase of demountable levee panels, among other things.
"The Victorian Government has already supported some of Council's flood recovery advocacy priorities, such as investigating solutions to mitigate flooding caused by overflow spillage from Lake Eppalock, and we hope that our most recent discussions lead to more positive announcements in the future."
