As our first phase of flood-waste collection comes to an end, Council wants to reassure everyone who is still dealing with flood waste that we are here to help you – nobody will be left behind.
Despite the recent illegal dumping activity at skip bin sites, we've decided to keep the skip bins at Ocean Shores Salad bowl, Alidenes Road and the Mullumbimby netball courts for flood waste disposal ONLY – and we'll be staffing these sites to ensure they are being used correctly. Please keep in mind that flood waste can also be taken to the Byron Resource Recovery Centre for free, with proof of address. If you still have genuine flood waste and cannot transport it, please call the Resource Recovery Hotline, 1300 652 625, to organise a collection.
Out on our roads, our crews are focussing on establishing weather-proof pedestrian access to communities isolated by landslips ahead of some very unwelcome forecasted rain later this week. Severe thunderstorms are possible today and over the coming days in the northeast with localised heavy falls, as well as gusty wind and large hail. Please keep your eye on SES and Bureau of Meteorology updates over the coming days – as well as Council's Emergency Dashboard.
During and following rain, Council may be instructed to close roads impacted by landslips entirely due to safety concerns. We understand that this will cause angst amongst the community, however please understand that if they are closed, it is an absolute necessity.
This Thursday's Council meeting will be held virtually because of flood damage in the Council chambers. It will be live-streamed via Council's facebook page and website from 9am. All welcome!
Mullumbimby Recovery Precinct
There are so many excellent and helpful services available within the Mullumbimby Recovery Precinct, and some of them are being taken around to areas needing some extra support, including communities still isolated in the Byron Shire. Service providers were part of a wellbeing day at Lilium café today, organised by the community for the community.
Next week, Services Australia will be taking their mobile service centre to the following locations:
· Main Arm Store next Monday 28 March 9:30am – 3:30pm*
· Wilsons Creek Public School next Tuesday 29 March from 9:30am to 3:30pm*
*The opening times often change according to demand, check signage on-site.
Services Australia can help you with disaster recovery payments, medicare enquiries, provide access to social workers, identity confirmation so people don't need to go to a service centre. More detailed information is available at www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/disaster.
The Mullumbimby Recovery Precinct in Dalley Street is still operating their fantastic face-to-face support network so please drop by if you need any advice or support.
Hours for services offered within the Civic Hall are as follows:
· Monday – Friday from 9am – 4:30pm
· Saturdays – 9am – 2pm
· Sundays – closed.
Clean-up News
Our contractors have collected over 3500 tonnes of flood waste over the past four weeks. We are asking people not to put any further items on the kerbside from this point in time as we move into the next phase of our clean-up.
If you still have genuine flood waste you can:
· Drop it to a skip bin location at Ocean Shores, Alidenes Road or Mullumbimby Netball Courts.
· Take your waste to the Byron Resource and Recovery Centre at Myocum – free drop-off for genuine flood waste, with residential ID.
· Call the Resource Recovery Hotline 1300 652 625 if you have genuine flood waste and need to organise a collection.
Roads Update
With the school holiday period approaching, Council is aiming to complete as much of the emergency road/bridge works as possible prior to Easter weekend (15 April).
Huonbrook
Our crews are focussing on establishing weather-proof pedestrian access to communities isolated by landslips ahead of forecasted rain later this week. During and following rain we are instructed to close the road entirely due to safety concerns. Please understand that this is a necessity and our traffic controllers will be trying their best – we ask you to treat them with courtesy.
By the end of the week we hope to be in a position to discuss options with the community for Huonbrook landslips 2 – 5. The immediate things we will be looking at are:
a. Gaining quad bike access to improve amenity and supply routes
b. Understanding the state of the bypass access opportunity
c. Progressing any assistance with supply lines
d. Providing a realistic timeline for the rectification of vehicular access for isolated areas
Upper Wilsons Creek
We have a few crews working through this area continuing on with the great work started by the community. The focus will be creating a track through the large slip to gain decent vehicle access and improving all creek crossings and road surfaces to turn the access from 4WD to 2WD. We anticipate that there should be a huge improvement in this access by mid next week (weather permitting).
Wanganui
We are currently working on the two slips in this area and are hoping to get good vehicular access in the coming days.
Housing information
· Temporary housing support package for medium-term accommodation:
www.service.nsw.gov.au/register-interest-floods-rental-support-scheme
· Rental support scheme for people whose homes are uninhabitable after the February-March 2022 floods:
www.service.nsw.gov.au/register-interest-floods-rental-support-scheme
If you urgently need accommodation, phone Link2home on 1800 152 152, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Water notices
Water Charges Notices for the November 2021 to February 2022 water reading period are due to be released at the end of this week.
We understand that the priority for our community is recovering from the floods right now, however the information for these notices was generated prior to the flood event and we need to ensure owners receive this information quarterly, and in a timely manner.
To assist those affected by the floods, Council has extended the 0% interest free period for those that need some additional time to pay.
Grants and Government Financial Assistance
New funding available: Artists can APPLY ONLINE
