Tweed Shire Council today welcomed $26 million in funding from the Australian and NSW governments to help restore and improve community assets damaged in the 2017 and 2022 floods.
The funding was announced in Murwillumbah today by Federal Member for Richmond Justine Elliot and Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin and is included in a $121 million package for the North Coast through the Infrastructure Betterment Fund and Community Local Infrastructure Recovery Package – Community Assets Program.
Under the Infrastructure Betterment Fund, the Tweed has been awarded $10 million to relocate the Council Works Depot from its current location in Buchanan Street at South Murwillumbah to land above the flood level in the new industrial estate in South Murwillumbah, under Council’s Land Swap Program.
An additional $15.5 million has been granted to Tweed Shire Council under the Community Assets Program (CAP), which will be used to help repair, restore and improve a suite of community facilities in the Shire, including:
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Roads, car parks and pathways – 15 projects located at flood-affected sportsgrounds and parks at Bilambil, Kingscliff, Tweed Heads, Murwillumbah, Uki, Pottsville, Terranora
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Public toilets and shelters – 15 projects at flood or storm-affected public toilets at Murwillumbah, Chinderah, Chillingham, Fingal Head, Pottsville, Casuarina, Kingscliff
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Parks and playgrounds – 6 projects at Budd Park (Murwillumbah), Overall Drive (Pottsville), Saddle Way (Murwillumbah), Turnock St Park (Chinderah) and Sweetnam Park (Uki). Shade sail works in 4 locations combined with play equipment upgrade in Cudgera Creek Park (Hastings Point)
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Community buildings and halls – 3 projects at Crabbes Creek Community Hall, Tumbulgum Hall, Tweed Heads Community Centre
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Erosion repair works – 2 projects at Murwillumbah and Tweed Heads
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Landslip repair work at Illawong Crescent, Terranora
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Clubhouses and sports fields/amenities – 9 projects at Bilambil East and West, Tumbulgum, Murwillumbah and Tweed Heads.
Mayor of Tweed Shire Chris Cherry welcomed the announcement, saying it was a game-changer for the Tweed’s flood recovery.
“We are very grateful to be granted almost $26 million in flood recovery funding from the Australian and NSW governments today,” Cr Cherry said.
“Without this funding, we simply would not be able to afford the repair and restoration of so many of our community assets – it would take us years to be able to fund such an extensive program.
“Our flood restoration team has been hard at work since the 2022 flood, completing more than 2,500 damage repairs to date with almost 1,000 damaged sites still to repair – and that is just on our roads network. To get a feel for the size of the job, to complete these over the next 2 years, we’re effectively starting 10 jobs every week – that’s a huge job for our staff.”
Tweed Shire Council General Manager Troy Green also welcomed the funding, saying $10 million for the Council Depot would have lasting benefits for not just Council but also the wider Tweed community.
“This Infrastructure Betterment funding will bring about generational change for the Tweed as it will enable us to rebuild our Works Depot off the floodplain and allow us to respond to any future natural disasters in a much more timely manner,” Mr Green said.
“In the 2017 flood, we lost much of our machinery as the Depot was flooded. And in 2022, while we were better prepared and managed to move our machinery to higher ground, the Depot was still inundated and took considerable effort by our crews to salvage the materials we were not able to move.
“This funding will allow us to get cracking on building a new Depot at our new Land Swap development in the new industrial estate in South Murwillumbah. Once that is completed, it means our crews – as well as other emergency service providers - will be able to respond quickly to any future natural disasters.”
A development application for the new Depot has been approved, with tenders for building contractors to be issued soon, with the aim of starting work as early as June next year.
For more information, including the full list of successful projects, visit the Infrastructure Betterment Fund website and the Community Local Infrastructure Recovery Package – Community Assets Programs website.
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