Walcha Council will receive an extra $591,796 in Federal Government funding to develop safer roads in the region under the Australian Government's Roads to Recovery program (R2R).
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Dylan Reeves - the director of engineering services for Walcha Council - said the additional funding will be invested into several projects on local and urban roads in the Walcha local government area.
"Council has an asset renewal program that will benefit greatly from this funding, primarily in relation to resealing and rehabilitations of local and urban roads," Mr Reeves said.
Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce, said the funding is part of the additional $138.9 million allocated to drought-affected communities through the R2R program, and forms part of the Australian Government's recently announced drought response package.
Councils in the New England will receive a combined $11.8 million in extra assistance under this latest funding round.
The revised Roads to Recovery funding for Walcha from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024 is now valued at $3.5 million. Which is an increase on the amount announced in January of this year but still down $200,000 on the previous funding round amount of $3.7 million.
Total Australian Government investment for all New England councils during this period is now $71.2 million.
Mr Joyce said this funding investment will have a two-fold benefit in the community.
Walcha will be able to draw on extra funds to improve local roads
- BarnabyJoyce
"Not only will Walcha be able to draw on extra funds to improve local roads, the township and villages in drought will also benefit from the new money being spent in the community and the extra work it will provide," Mr Joyce said.
"Alongside other measures such as the extra $1 million we also have on the table for every council in the New England, it's all helping to support our communities through these tough financial times because drought doesn't stop at the farm gate."
The additional funding matches the allocation already made to councils for the 2019-2020 financial year, and will be made available from January 2020.
Funding has been allocated to the 128 local government areas with the aim of stimulating local economic activity through road infrastructure projects. Those councils are also receiving support under the federal Drought Communities Programme.
"This extra roads funding is designed to stimulate local economic activity and improve local infrastructure by making our roads better and safer for country people," Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister, Andrew Gee said.
