Port Macquarie Hastings Mayor Adam Roberts joined Local Government Mayors and General Managers of disaster-hit areas this week to present insights and feedback to NSW Ministers.
Mayor Roberts was one of the guest speakers representing the Mid North Coast region in State Parliament where he raised several key issues arising from the significant rainfall events of the first half of 2025.
Suggestions on how the NSW Government could work more productively with local councils and communities where high on his agenda.
"Some of the key points I raised on behalf of our region was the need for the NSW Government to continue or reinstate important programs such as Fixing Country Bridges and Fixing Country Roads that have historically helped local councils deal with the cumulative damage to roads and bridges caused by significant weather events and floods in particular," he said.
The Mayor also discussed infrastructure resilience, highlighting the need for NSW and Local Governments to work more collaboratively in building back smarter.
Ensuring infrastructure is replaced or repaired to a better standard than before would reduce long-term maintenance and replacement costs, and would re-instate key road or bridge connections to isolated areas quicker
Upgrading sports fields and associated infrastructure to enable these community assets to re-open sooner after rain events, were also important topics raised.
The Mayor also re-enforced the need to explore improved funding models for Councils, given the stretched limits to which current budgets are operating on.
"This forum presented a real opportunity for regional councils like ours to present their cases directly to Ministers to ensure their voices are being heard," he said.
"I appreciate the opportunity to present insights on behalf of our community, and I thank the other Mayors who came together to pro-actively and productively share their stories in aid of regional areas attracting their fair share of support, particularly with rebuilding after significant weather events."
The forum was hosted by Local Government NSW and was attended by more than a dozen Mayors, NSW Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib and NSW Minister for Small Business, Recovery and the North Coast Janelle Safin.
