The banks of the Hunter River from the Levee after the floods | Philip Penfold Facebook
The NSW Government is moving quickly to fix levee and riverbank problems caused by last month’s floods.
An extra $50-million in funds has been announced on top of more than $21-million already allocated for repairs and restorations.
About 5km of riverbank will be remediated around the Hunter, Paterson and Williams Rivers.
Maitland mayor Philip Penfold says investigations have begun into structural collapses along the flood prevention system which prompted the SES to issue a brief Evacuation Warning for people inside the levee on the evening of Friday, July 8 until temporary fixes were put in place a few hours later.
“There were collapses down near Horseshoe Bend in central Maitland and an issue with the ring levee near the Maitland Showground,” he said.
Cr Penfold says he is grateful the state government has moved swiftly on the problems instead of waiting until another potential natural disaster.
“It’s certainly important after any event to revisit the infrastructure that’s left and check any damage that has occurred,” he said.
The state government has hit the ground running with the early stages of repair already underway.
“They’ve already been out to visit the sites and inspect the issues that exist,they understand the work that they need to do and it’s very important that this $50-million comes forward to be spent quickly.”