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Tardy flood risk response put Maitland livelihoods in peril

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Maitland state MP Jenny Aitchison has slammed the NSW Government, claiming its tardy response to the area’s flood risk could put livelihoods in peril.

The local member moved a Notice of Motion in the NSW Parliament, condemning her political rivals for failing to review the Maitland City Flood Emergency Sub Plan.

She’s now calling on them to immediately release an updated strategy.

“The Maitland LGA has a long history of significant flood events,” Ms Aitchison said.

“Over the past five years, it’s been declared a natural disaster on five occasions.

“The government is supposed to maintain a number of emergency management plans, which are updated every three-to-five years.

“Currently, they’re relying on our 2003 Maitland City Council Flood Plan, with population figures from 2003 – when we had about 50,000 people.

“We are now closer to 90,000.”

Ms Aitchison added “more population equalled significantly more flood prone land”.

“After nine years, three major flood events and a number of smaller events, the government has failed to plan for the safety of my community,” she said.

“Lives are at risk when people are not prepared.

“We didn’t get a Natural Disaster Declaration for the flood, which impacted farmers on the Hunter River in November 2021 despite me raising the issue with a number of government ministers.

“And, it took three formal representations to the Minister for Emergency Services, Resilience NSW and Flood Recovery to get the NDD for the current event.

“Even now, I’m still fighting for promised individual assistance to be made available to people in our community, as the channels of communication seem to be blocked between the state and federal government.”

Ms Aitchison said it was an “extremely distressing” situation.

“We still have a flood plan that pre-dates one of the worst flood events in Maitland since 1955,” she explained.

“How can that be after a member of our community sadly lost their life and the extensive community input into Brigadier Naumann OAM’s review of the April 2015 Super Storms?

“This is one of many emergency management plans that are substantially out of date.

“When governments fail to plan, they plan to fail.

“And, this one has shown an appalling lack of concern for people in our community.

“This is an outrageous failure by the former Minister for Emergency Services, David Elliott.

“I hope the new Minister will step up to quickly update Maitland’s local flood plan.”

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