{"id":29925,"date":"2024-04-22T10:04:21","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T00:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infrastructuremagazine.com.au\/?p=51957"},"modified":"2024-04-22T10:04:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T00:04:21","slug":"northern-rivers-disaster-resilience-program-delivering-36-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=29925","title":{"rendered":"Northern Rivers disaster resilience program delivering 36 projects"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">36 new projects are being rolled out as part of the Northern Rivers Recovery and Resilience Program (NRRRP), including bridge expansions, upgraded pumps, enhanced evacuation routes and nature-based projects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Federal Government has provided the New South Wales Government with $150 million to deliver the projects across the seven local government areas of the Northern Rivers region. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A number of the projects are now moving from design to delivery phase and aim to reduce the impact of future disasters to create a better position for communities to recover faster.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A key project of the NRRRP is the $40 million expansion of the two bridges which provide access to Ballina Island. To improve evacuation capabilities during flood events, the bridges at Fishery Creek and Tamarind Drive in Ballina, will be duplicated to create dual lane access.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This construction is expected to significantly improve evacuation times, reducing the risk to lives in Ballina, and potentially curb infrastructure repair costs by minimising localised road flooding.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A further two bridges will be built in Tatham along the Woodburn to Coraki Road, improving evacuation routes, access for emergency services, and vital supply routes in the Richmond Valley. In total, the four new bridges represent $58 million of the $150 million funding for the NRRRP.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another significant project being rolled out in Lismore CBD is the installation of an electric pump station at Lismore Rowing Club, which currently requires a tractor to be driven to the site to operate it manually during flood events.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new pump is one of $31.5 million worth of projects that will come to life under the NRRRP in Lismore. This list includes the refurbishment of flood gates, drainage improvements, works on flood channels and the upgrade of several pumps.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Outside of Lismore, work is already underway on several of the NRRRP projects including $5.7 million to repair the structural integrity of the Woodburn to Coraki Road at Bungawalbin and Swan Bay in the Richmond Valley, one of the last sections of main road in the area to reopen following the floods.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first NRRRP project has been completed, which was a small study to evaluate options for flood free access to Junction Hill via the Summerland Way in Grafton.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Further on-ground works and project management for NRRRP projects will be coordinated by the New South Wales Reconstruction Authority (RA) in accordance with the Emergency Response Fund Northern Rivers Recovery and Resilience Program 2022-23 \u2013 Federation Funding Agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To ensure local businesses know about the NRRRP\u2019s technical requirements and the pipeline of projects, the RA held industry briefings in Murwillumbah on 3 April and in Casino on 4 April, with over 80 people in attendance at both.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Federal Special Envoy for Disaster Recovery, Senator Tony Sheldon, said that it is exciting to see these mitigation and long-term resilience projects in the Northern Rivers underway, and that he is proud to support disaster prone communities to prepare to withstand future weather events.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhile we are continuing to work with the New South Wales Government to deliver the right infrastructure to help protect and mitigate against future disasters, it\u2019s really important that we recognise this significant milestone in the region\u2019s recovery.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New South Wales Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully, said that these 36 projects help support the Northern Rivers Region to drive long-term resilience for the community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cEach of these projects aim to mitigate the impact of future disasters and allow the community to recover more quickly,\u201d Minister Scully said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Parliamentary Secretary for Disaster Recovery, Janelle Saffin, said that many of these projects have been suggested by community members or been on councils\u2019 books for many years without the funds to implement them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s a vital first step towards mitigation, adaptation and building resilience and restoring community confidence before the next disaster strikes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image credit: Leah-AnneThompson\/shutterstock.com<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>36 new projects are being rolled out as part of the Northern Rivers Recovery and Resilience Program (NRRRP), including bridge [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8207,1232,471,2251,1291,163,8203],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disaster-management","category-investment","category-news","category-nsw","category-projects","category-rail-industry-news-australia-new-zealand","category-spotlight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29925"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37885,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29925\/revisions\/37885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}