Walcha has been declared a natural disaster area after the catastrophic storm of December 20, and will receive government funding to help recover.
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The declaration opens opportunities for help to both the council and farmers.
The news was a relief for the town, mayor Eric Noakes said.
“This will mean a lot to council in their costs of cleaning up our lengths of roadway, and repairing fences along there,” he said.
“It will also bring some surety to landholders that there will be assistance available to them now.”
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Walcha will receive financial assistance through the jointly funded commonwealth-state Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
The DRFA provides:
- Help for eligible people whose homes or belongings have been damaged;
- Support for affected local councils to help with the costs of cleaning up and restoring damaged essential public assets;
- Concessional interest rate loans for small businesses, primary producers, and non-profit organisations;
- Freight subsidies for primary producers; and
- Grants to non-profit organisations
The council will assess the cost of the roadside clean-up, and put in its claims to the Office of Emergency Management.
Farmers will be assessed individually on their needs, and have been asked to liaise with the Rural Assistance Authority for this.
The council was still looking into what assistance would be available for farmers.
"We've got to delve a little bit deeper into the policy and the legislation to see how it fully affects people," Cr Noakes said.
The local government areas of Clarence Valley, Dungog, Mid Coast, and Warrumbungle have also been disaster-declared.
Assistant Minister for Home Affairs Linda Reynolds said the effects of the storm were still being realised.
