Safety first for storm damaged roads

17 Jul 2020

A “safety first” mantra by councils and the State Government will make sure all the storm damaged roads in the Hills and Upper Fleurieu will be fixed in the coming months, says Federal Member for Mayo Rebekha Sharkie.

The NXT MP met with State Transport Minister Stephen Mullighan last week and said she was reassured that the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure was working co-operatively with councils to prioritise and repair more than $10 million worth of infrastructure damage in the Adelaide Hills, Alexandrina, Mt Barker and Yankalilla districts.

“My understanding is that fixing the roads is the first priority, followed by negotiations about where the funding will be sourced,” Ms Sharkie said.

“Minister Mullighan appeared confident that a significant portion of the costs will be covered by the Australian Government-State Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA).

“I will continue to monitor the issue to make sure all the affected councils in my electorate, including Yankalilla, will not be slugged with huge bills that will have enormous impacts on residents’ rates in future years.

“This is a natural disaster for our region and one that is too big for local government to cover entirely.”

State and territory governments determine which areas receive NDRRA assistance.

When a damage bill threshold is reached, the Federal Government funds up to 75% of the money provided for asset rebuilding and other measures.

Ms Sharkie said she also discussed the loss of Supplementary Local Road Funding grants to South Australian councils with Minister Mullighan.

The axing of the grants in the 2014 Federal budget cut between $200,000 and $350,000 from the funds allocated to the councils in Mayo.

“Mr Mullighan agreed with me that South Australia is seriously underfunded when it comes to road funding,” Ms Sharkie said.

“South Australia has 11.8 per cent of Australia’s local road network, 7.1 per cent of the population but only receives 4.6 per cent of the total Federal funding towards Land Transport Infrastructure projects.

“Advocating the Federal Government for the restoration of equitable road funding for my electorate and all of SA and will be a priority issue for me.”

“South Australia has 11.8 per cent of Australia’s local road network, 7.1 per cent of the population but only receives 4.6 per cent of the total Federal funding towards Land Transport Infrastructure projects.

“Advocating the Federal Government for the restoration of equitable road funding for my electorate and all of SA and will be a priority issue for me.”

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