By Jeremy Sollars
Flood debris still in place from local rainfall associated with Cyclone Debbie earlier this year won’t be removed until the Southern Downs Regional Council gets approval for federal and state disaster relief funding.
A local resident recently drew the attention of the Free Times to debris stuck under the bridge on Victoria Street in Warwick, near Allman Park racecourse.
Other locals also remain concerned about outstanding damage to roads, in particular rural roads, from the heavy rainfall back in late March and early rainfall produced by Cyclone Debbie.
The council’s engineering services director Peter See told the Free Times the flood debris under the Victoria Street Bridge “has been captured as part of the damage inflicted by ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie”.
“As with other flood damage caused by this weather event, removal of the debris will be covered by disaster relief funding, rather than from council’s funds,” Mr See said.
“Council is still awaiting approval from the National Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) for packages that have been submitted.
“Council understands that the approvals will be made soon.”
Sources recently suggested to the Free Times that the council had previously missed out on NDRRA funding from the floods in 2011 as it had failed to meet application deadlines set by administering authority the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA).
But a QRA spokesman this week said the council had received all of its NDRAA funding to fix damage from the floods in December 2010, January 2011 and January 2013.
“Southern Downs Regional Council is responsible for managing its own Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) program, which includes applying for funding within the Commonwealth’s deadlines,” the spokesman said.
“Under the Commonwealth’s NDRRA guidelines, councils have two years after the end of the financial year in which the relevant disaster took place to complete restoration works.
“For example, for an event in January 2013, the allowable time limit to complete works was 30 June 2015.
“Southern Downs Regional Council received extensions of time for a number of submissions related its 2011 program, as did a significant amount of councils across Queensland in relation to the 2011 events.
“The QRA applies robust assessment processes to applications for NDRRA funding and assesses for eligibility and value for money.
“All Southern Downs NDRRA applications for funding were received for 2010-’11 to 2012-’13 events have been reviewed in line with the terms and conditions of the Commonwealth’s NDRRA Determination.
“All eligible NDRRA amounts have been reimbursed to council.”
