Goulburn Mulwaree Council tallies cost of flood damage repairs

The rain, dumped on October 7, 8 and 9, caused significant damage, particularly to the LGA's southeast. Lake Bathurst and district bore the brunt, with 64mm falling on October 7 alone.

Goulburn received 47mm across the period, but with already saturated ground, the downpour quickly flooded lower-lying parts of Eastgrove and closed roads.

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CEO Aaron Johansson said a preliminary estimate put the repair bill at $2.55 million. Once finalised, a claim will be made to the state government for disaster assistance funding. Goulburn Mulwaree and Upper Lachlan Shire were declared eligible for the help on October 17.

Crews have estimated more than $1.8 million for repairs to Caoura Road at Tallong, which experienced heavy slippage. The road has been extensively damaged in previous flooding but repairs had also been effected courtesy of former disaster assistance.

On Pomeroy Road, close to the Upper Lachlan Shire Council boundary, a sealed section of the surface was ripped up. Repairs are estimate to be more than $250,000.

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In the southeast, the downpour stripped gravel, caused corrugations and scoured edges on Covan Creek Road, Lumley Road, Painters Lane, Currawang Road, Bullamalita Road, Glenoval Road and Cullulla Road. The same occurred at Lambs Lane (connecting Pomeroy and Range Road) and Ambrose Road near Marulan. The council estimates repairs will cost more than $655,000 for these thoroughfares.

The disaster assistance may also available to:

The council has spent $25m on infrastructure repairs necessitated by seven natural disasters, including one bushfire and six floods, since 2020, a report to Tuesday night's council meeting stated.

"These events cause great strain on employee resources, with staff needing to be redeployed from scheduled works to carry out repairs and technical assessments, as well as being under-resourced due to accessibility issues," the 2022-2026 Goulburn Mulwaree Council Resourcing Strategy stated.

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However, the council has appointed a panel of mainly local forms, including Divalls and Coopers Earthmoving, to hasten the repairs.

Meantime, Mr Johansson said the council would also apply for a slice of the state government's $50m fund for pothole repairs throughout NSW.

"We will identify priority areas," he said.

"It comes down to timeframes and resourcing. We will need to increase the workforce to repair the road network in a sustainable way but we are looking to do this as soon as possible."

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Regional Transport and Roads Minister Sam Farraway said one of the biggest challenges was that traditional pothole repair methods required the road to be dry.

"The prolonged wet weather also increases the risk of the same pothole re-forming," he said.

"We've been used a new 'cold mix' product on some of our worst potholes and it has already produced outstanding results; our road crews have not needed to refill a single pothole since they started using this product."

He said the government had asked for solutions and new technology to patch up potholes faster when it was cold and wet.

Mr Farraway encouraged people to report potholes to councils or online at nswroads.work/reportdamage

Further information on disaster assistance can be found at www.recovery.gov.au

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