Former Urana Shire mayor, Pat Bourke sits on Federation Council as the only representative from the previous shire before amalgamation.
A flood levee for Urana is neither imminent nor guaranteed, but after last week’s Federation Council meeting, momentum is in the air and the issue squarely on the agenda.
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The question is ‘how’ rather than ‘if’ the levee will be funded and forward progress was made when Mayor Cheryl Cook made it clear she supported former Urana Shire mayor, Cr Pat Bourke who is adamant the project needs to go ahead, now.
“The money is there and we need to tick that box to get this levee bank going,” Cr Bourke said.
“This community is probably paying a third of the rates of this council, and we’re thinking ‘no, let it wait until a grant comes along’.
“Be buggered; we’re talking about their livelihoods, their safety … this needs to go ahead now.”
“Be buggered; we’re talking about their livelihoods, their safety … this needs to go ahead now.”
During the 2012 floods, helicopters were flown to Urana to airlift people from their homes and from the hospital.
When Urangeline Creek eventually rose a metre above the town’s levee, 30 homes, businesses and farmland were inundated.
Lake Urana, which holds about half the volume of Sydney Harbour, filled for the first time in 25 years, and the NSW Government declared a natural disaster.
Cr Bourke said the flood “wrecked businesses and tore the guts out of the community”.
He told the meeting the town had waited for a levee since pre-merger while the estimated cost continued to grow from $3 million to $6 million, including a $1.63 million Council contribution.
“We have the money,” Cr Bourke said.
“Unrestricted cash is sitting there to be allocated for opportunities… it’s there so we can be proactive not reactive.”
The town of Urana and surrounding farmland, completely inundated by floodwaters in 2012.
Only Cr David Bott stood firmly against the levee, not in principle, but in priority.
He said with no options in line with the council’s current financial situation, and the community’s capacity to pay, the project needs to be delayed “until such a time when we have the ability to act on it”.
But while Mayor Cheryl Cook understood where Cr Bott was coming from, she threw her weight behind the tiny northern community.
“I would like to see this supported for Urana,” Cr Cook said.
“We do a lot around the Shire and we seem to miss the top end as Cr Bourke has often said.
“Although its only 26 houses and 14 commercial buildings, those people still contribute to the Corowa pool in their rates, and other things around town.
“We need to prepare a capital expenditure review in readiness for when a grant becomes available.”
General manager Adrian Butler suggested a combination of selling underutilised assets, unrestricted cash, reallocating reserves and developer contributions was most sensible, and it was also the mayor’s preferred option.
“I’ve really studied this,” she said, making it clear that she opposed any further SRV applications and that she supported Urana to have an application ready for the next round of disaster funding.
Planning director, Susan Appleyard told councillors the first priority of the 2022 Flood Plain Risk Study and Plan was to build a levee at Urana.
“I’d like to see it ready to go for next year,” she said.
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