Moira Shire Council says it is lobbying the state government in an attempt to get more help for residents languishing in flood waters that are yet to recede, weeks after the initial inundation back in October.
Some residents in the west of the shire have expressed frustration that more help has not been provided to pump water from their properties, stalling insurance assessments and recovery efforts.
Moira Shire Council chief executive Clare Keenan said the council was aware frustration was growing in some areas where the persistence of flood water had prevented residents moving into a recovery stage and planning for the future.
“We’re doing our secondary impact assessment, however a lot of the Barmah area is still impacted, so we can’t get in there,” Ms Keenan said.
“We know a number of our community can’t access their homes and property because they are still inundated, so we’re asking the state government for support to help pump water.”
The call for more help from the Victorian Government has been backed by Rural Councils Victoria, which represents the state’s 38 rural local government areas.
Its chair, Mary-Ann Brown, said expectations of regional councils during emergencies often outweighed what they were funded to do.
“One of our state government election advocacy pieces, but also to the Federal Government, was about better support for rural councils to deal with emergencies,” Cr Brown said.
“The challenge for rural councils is that many of them have limited financial resources. We’re essentially reliant on rates and government grants to fund us and so when you have these major events we’re seeing at the moment, and continuing to play out, it’s a real challenge for councils to deal with, given the limited resources they have available to them.
“It really is a call-out to state and federal governments to provide more resources so rural councils can deal with these challenges,” she said.
Cr Brown said she would also like to see more money spent on preventative measures to reduce the impact of disasters, known as ‘building back better’.
“We have already put a call out to say there needs to be more funding for building back better and we will be continuing to advocate for that because it would be much better if we could prevent or reduce the impact of these events rather than deal with them on a regular basis as we’ve seen on the eastern coast of Australia, where there’s been flooding and some communities have been flooded two or three or four times this year,” Cr Brown said.
Ms Keenan said Moira Shire Council had opened a flood recovery hub in Nathalia to help residents with their ongoing concerns.
“We’ve opened our recovery hub and we’re asking anyone across the whole shire, who has been impacted, to come in and see us, so we can support them with resources and services,” she said.
“If we can’t help, we will make sure we find someone who can.”
The flood recovery hub is at Nathalia Community House, 17 Harcourt St, and open on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9.30am to noon and then from 1pm to 3pm.
The council is holding a mobile flood recovery hub information session at Barmah on Tuesday, November 29 at 16 Schier St between 10.30am and 2pm.