Politics & Council
9 March, 2024
Four layers of red tape hold up 900 flood recovery projects
THE bucket has been tipped on State Government bureaucrats for hindering Loddon Shire recovery work since the October 2022 flood emergency. Funding for just 10 per cent of projects totalling $30 million to fix almost 1000 damaged roads, culverts and...
THE bucket has been tipped on State Government bureaucrats for hindering Loddon Shire recovery work since the October 2022 flood emergency.
Funding for just 10 per cent of projects totalling $30 million to fix almost 1000 damaged roads, culverts and bridges have been approved.
Four layers of red tape have seen no new approvals since last October and Loddon Shire says it won’t be able to complete all work by the June 2025 deadline.
Council officers are constantly asked to justify funding applications, prove there has been a flood and provide photographs that show damage to roads before the floods and after.
That’s when operations director Steve Phillips says the bureaucrats start arguing whether Disaster Recovery Funding Agreement cash should flow for the damaged section of road or a reduced part and whether replacement of gravel be at the bare minimum 25mm surface of 50mm.
“There is one project they are still to approve where bureaucrats are disputing $1900 of a $120,000 application,” Mr Phillips said.
“I’ve told our officer to let them cut out the $1900 so we can get the work started,” Mr Phillips said.
“We are questioned at every stage of approvals and at each level the requirement to provide evidence of flood and damage increases.
“We provide evidence and they then argue about the maintenance data.
“One document is 19 pages and we have to fill in every column whether it’s relevant or not - every time for 943 projects.
“And then they keep updating the guidelines. They (State Government) don’t tell us, they just put new guidelines on the website.”
Mr Phillips said State Government bureaucrats had created a low-trust environment. “They even question what qualifications our people submitting the applications have. I have officers ready to resign ... they are at their wit’s end,” he said.
“We have to certify the estimate for every bit of work on every project, estimates or market rates that the Government is now disputing. Again, holding up the work.”
Mr Phillips said approvals were meant to have been received for council flood projects within eight weeks of the work being submitted.
“Now it’s take eight months and more. At this rate it will be impossible for us to complete the jobs by June next year and every delay by the bureaucrats is risking higher costs for materials and wages and whether we can get those resources needed to do the jobs,” he said.
Mr Phillips has worked on flood recovery repair programs for more than 20 years.
“This is the most frustrating bureaucratic process I have ever been a part of,” he said. “I’ve been part of rebuilding after the Alpine fires, the 2010-2011 floods around Loddon, I’ve fought fires in NSW. But this is the most craziest process I have ever come across.
“Each layer of assessment is only assessing the previous layer and we get questioned four times.”
Mr Phillips said red tape had prevented council repairing bridges on the Derby-Serpentine Road and Chamberlains Road, Inglewood.
“The projects are right across the shire - roads, culverts, floodways and more than 900 other jobs. We’ve one packet of work worth $120,000 that has been approved at one layer of bureaucracy but not at the higher level. We could start the work but wear the risk if it gets refused.”
Mayor Gavan Holt told last week’s council meeting that the delays were cause for alarm bells.
“We have seven staff working on getting approvals over the line at every level,” Mr Phillips said.