‘Category C’ assistance for flood-affected businesses and farmers

13 April 2017

Mayor welcomes support and encourages ‘shop local’ message

Mayor of Tweed, Councillor Katie Milne has welcomed the approval of ‘Category C’ support for eligible small businesses and not-for-profits describing the announcement as ‘welcome relief’ towards the end of a gruelling week of recovery efforts.

The Category C listing for Murwillumbah and Lismore was approved overnight and will provide access to grant support of up to $15,000 to eligible small businesses and not-for-profits.

The first round of support includes areas around the major town centres including Murwillumbah, South Murwillumbah, Condong and Bray Park.

Other Tweed Shire areas including affected rural villages and outlying businesses are being considered under a separate application with more information soon to come.

To assist with the assessment process, businesses in Tumbulgum, Uki, Chinderah, Mooball and Burringbar are encouraged to provide information on how they’ve been affected via:

www.surveymonkey.com/r/NorthCoastFloodsBusinessSurvey

Councillor Milne says the Category C support is vital for small businesses hit so hard by the disaster.

“This is really fantastic news; the floods and the clean-up have taken such an emotional and physical toll on everyone involved,” she said.

“Small businesses are a really important part of our community life and this sort of support is critical to helping them get back on their feet.

“The damage, clean-up and recovery costs have been significant, these grants will help, but it’s so important at this time that we continue to shop local and get behind these businesses that have lost so much.”

Category C assistance includes recovery grants for small businesses and non-profit organisations and are designed to assist with the costs of clean-up and reinstatement of businesses that have suffered direct damage as a result of an eligible disaster.

To apply for a recovery grant, small businesses in the local government areas above can contact the NSW Rural Assistance Authority on 1800 678 593 or by visiting the NSW Rural Assistance Authority website.

Further information on disaster assistance is available at the Disaster Assist website and the Emergency NSW website.