Campaspe Shire Council is on the road to strengthen its emergency management in light of last year's flood event.
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The council will receive close to $1.2 million from both the federal and state government to put towards flood-related projects.
"We're on a mission to ensure that Campaspe Shire receives the funding and resources we need to fix the widespread infrastructure damage caused by last October's flood event, and to support our impacted communities to recover and become more resilient into the future," mayor Rob Amos said.
An amount of $1.087 million was awarded under Round One of the Disaster Ready Fund (DRF) for a Flood Review and Mitigation Project.
The project includes:
- Review and updating of the Echuca Moama Torrumbarry Flood Study. This will enable potential future flood mitigation measures, warning systems and triggers to be developed based on the latest information.
- Preparation of a Flood Risk Management Plan. The plan will identify, evaluate and recommend options for mitigation works and determine their overall feasibility and requirements.
- Purchase of demountable levee panels. These will help protect key community facilities and maintain access road for vehicular movement.
An amount of $110,000 was awarded under the Connecting Community to Builders Program.
This will help flood-impacted residents to rebuild their homes by linking them to local trades in the area, and assist council to process the increase in planning and building permit applications.
The funding good news come as Campaspe Shire hosted its Rochester Business Networking Event this week, in an effort to "acknowledge the hard work and challenges experienced over the past seven months".
Held on June 14, the "very non-traditional business networking event" saw entertainment including The Voice finalist, Matt Hetherington and award-winning singer Nina Ferro as well as bounds of local talent take the stage.
Campaspe Shire economic development manager Astrid O'Farrell said the event allowed the flood-hit town to forget what they had suffered through for the night.
"It gives you an appreciation they're still going through it, but it was nice to just forget about it for a night and have a bit of fun and a laugh," Ms O'Farrell said.
And while the shire faced some hurdles when organising the event - including an initial venue which turned out to be mould riddled - Ms O'Farrell said, "that's life for businesses and community in Rochy" at the moment.
"It was just a night of having fun, getting together, having some good quality food, and good quality entertainment," she said.
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Gabriel Rule
Alex Gretgrix
Journalist based in Bendigo, Victoria, covering health and a few local shires at the Bendigo Advertiser. Contact via alex.gretgrix@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Journalist based in Bendigo, Victoria, covering health and a few local shires at the Bendigo Advertiser. Contact via alex.gretgrix@austcommunitymedia.com.au
