Council cements its commitment to flood levee upgrade

16 December 2015

For immediate release

Council cements its commitment to flood levee upgrade project

Wagga Wagga City Council has strengthened its commitment to upgrading the city’s flood levee system with a resolution to apply for a one-off temporary rate variation to cover Council’s one-third share of the $23.3M project.

Mayor of the City of Wagga Wagga, Councillor Rod Kendall, said the additional increase will only be applied to rates if and when the State Government begins to commit to its share of funding for the upgrade.

“We are committed to protecting homes and assets in the city and I now strongly encourage the State Government to come on board and provide its share of funding for this important project,” Cr Kendall said.

“Wagga Wagga is the largest inland city in NSW and it’s time the levee upgrade project was treated as a priority by all levels of government.”

Council is pursuing a range of external funding options for the project, with the General Manager and the Mayor currently seeking an appointment with Minister for the Environment and Heritage and Assistant Minister for Planning Mark Speakman SC MP to discuss further.

Council will make the application to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) for a rate increase in 2016/17 of 3.7 per cent for farmland properties and 5.8 per cent for all other properties.

This increase includes the 1.8 per cent rate peg already set by IPART, with the levee upgrade component of the increase being 1.91 per cent for farmland properties and 4.1 per cent for all other properties.

Rate increases for the remaining four years of the variation will be in line with the IPART rate peg only, before dropping off rates notices.

The $23.3M project includes upgrading the Main City Levee to a 1 in 100 year level of protection and the North Wagga Levee to a 1 in 20 year level of protection.

More information on the rate variation and flood levee upgrade project can be found at wagga.nsw.gov.au/srv.

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Contact Lauren Pezet on 6926 9197.0409 079 663 or media@wagga.nsw.gov.au or follow us on Twitter - @WaggaCouncil