TENDERS for the work at Rocks Ferry Reserve closed last week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A report is now being prepared for consideration at Council's March meeting with work expected to commence in April.
The work itself is expected to take between two and three months. Council will use previous design documentation from Rocks Ferry Reserve improvement works to ensure the reserve is restored to its former state. The decision not to re-do design plans will also enable the work to be completed as quickly as possible. The popular reserve on the banks of the Hastings River in Wauchope was significantly improved as part of Council's 2010/11 and 2011/12 works programs but sustained extensive damage in the floods of February 2013.
Following extensive negotiations with the Department of Lands, Council submitted a flood damage assistance application on July 2, 2013 for Rocks Ferry Reserve along with seven other damaged Crown Reserve sites.
Council first heard of its successful application for Rocks Ferry Reserve on October 15 via media release and received official confirmation of $293,685 funding later that month. Council has previously expressed concern about the flood damage assistance process and the delays in receiving confirmation on the application status.
"The time being taken to repair the damage is also an indication of the sheer size of the project and some of the complexities involved," said Jeffery Sharp, Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's Director of Infrastructure and Asset Management.
Check out images from 2013 right here