Central Coast Council announces support package for Koolewong fire affected residents

Following Central Coast Council’s resolution to implement a range of supports to assist affected residents of the Koolewong bushfire which ravaged the community last weekend, action is already commencing.

Skip bins for use by fire impacted residents have now been delivered to Koolewong exclusion area, and waste collection services have re-commenced where bins are able to be accessed.  Replacement bins are also progressively being delivered where bins were destroyed in the fire.

At Tuesday night’s Ordinary Council Meeting, Mayor Lawrie McKinna presented a Mayoral Minute acknowledging the heroic efforts of emergency service personnel and volunteers during the recent Koolewong bushfire, and thanking the community for their ongoing support.
Mayor McKinna then announced a support package which received unanimous support from all Councillors.

“We want to support affected residents in a practical way, so Council officers worked to put together a package that will help with clean-ups, waste disposal, and making properties safe by assessing hazards and removing dangerous trees and other items  where necessary. Our aim is to complement the work of the lead agencies,” Mayor McKinna said.

“We are working closely with the Rural Fire Service as preparations are made for the handover to the NSW Government Reconstruction Authority, noting that much of our support package can only be implemented once access to the site is permitted.”

Council’s package adopted includes the establishment of a bushfire recovery program to a maximum value of $1 million and give notice as per s.356 of the Local Government Act. 

The provision of expanded waste disposal services for residents affected by the bushfire, primarily in the wider bushfire management exclusion zone including:

a.    Providing bulk waste skip bins at centralised locations across the broader area to dispose of priority items such as perishable food and providing the opportunity to order additional and bulk kerbside collections.
b.    Providing the prompt replacement of any damaged bins.
c.    Providing additional collections of existing bins for disposal of excess household waste, and
d.    Continuation of the weekly household kerbside bin and bulk waste collections, and for roads currently closed services will resume immediately once access is restored.
e.    Support owners to mitigate out-of-pocket expenses for waste disposal fees at Council waste facilities for cleanup and disposal of building waste from sites where houses were destroyed or damaged by the bushfire.  
f.    Establishment of a pre-DA building advisory and development assessment service at no charge for residents to assist in the fast tracking of the rebuild of their destroyed or damaged houses.  
g.    Request the RFS contribute to the building advisory service as part of fast tracking the rebuild.
h.    Waive development application fees and planning certificates for residents who are rebuilding houses destroyed or damaged by the bushfire.
i.    Provide support to the RFS to make safe properties that have houses which were destroyed or damaged by the bushfire, including the removal of unsafe trees on public and private land (where approval is provided for example by the LEOCON).
j.    Provide support for uninsured residents located in the bushfire management exclusion zone to remove burnt out vehicles caused by the bushfire.
k.    Work with residents that have had their houses destroyed or damaged to identify additional support mechanisms that Council can consider.

It also extends the current Council rates hardship program to apply to residents who have a house that has been destroyed or damaged by the bushfire in the bushfire management exclusion zone.

Council’s Director Environment and Planning, Luke Nicholls, said Council will be updated to ensure that any additional needs and/or changes in the support package can be addressed as needed.

“We obviously want to ensure that we are actually delivering what is needed with Council’s capabilities, so we will continue to talk with residents and the lead agencies and modify/change our support if required,” Mr Nicolls said.

“More information will be provided in coming days and weeks.”