Recent devastating flash flooding in addition to three years of rain has seen unprecedented road damage across the Central West and lobbists are calling for more support to remedy the issue.
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Central NSW Council chairman and Cabonne mayor Kevin Beatty and Business NSW's Western NSW director Vicki Seccombe say the road damage is having an ongoing impact on business, local economies and tourism.
"The immediate impacts of the flooding on businesses are devastating. The insidious nature of the ongoing road damage is less well recognised," Cr Beatty said.
"We need our roads to get goods and services into our towns, on the one hand it is absolutely about safety, but the economic impacts are also significant, especially in communities with agriculture as their engine industry.
Cr Beatty said having good roads is also vital to the region's tourism sector with the majority of visitors arriving by road.
"The impacts vary across the region, however one thing is clear - the road damage is unprecedented and our support for our local businesses needs to be unprecedented," he said.
"Central NSW Councils is advocating for more support for roads. Road repair is going to be the main game of councils for years to come. We need the support of our communities and other levels of government in recognising this challenge."
The NSW Government did announce plans last week to step up and brought in extra resources to repair and reopen flood damaged roads in the Central West.
Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said it was bringing in 200 people from Transport for NSW and contractors on a fly-in, fly-out basis with excavators, trucks and bobcats from across the state to support councils and existing crews with the massive task of repairing and restoring the roads
"Early estimates from councils indicate that 10,000 kilometres of roads have been affected, which will take many months to repair," Mr Farraway said.
The State Government has also committed to fast-tracking $15 million in emergency funding for urgent road repairs in Cabonne Council, Cowra Council, Forbes Shire Council, Lachlan Shire Council, Moree Plains Shire Council, Parkes Shire Council, Narrabri Shire Council, and Walgett Shire Council.
Business NSW's Western NSW director Vicki Seccombe said having good roads is important for freight and logistics, connectivity, boosting our visitor economy and bringing in much needed foot traffic to our CBDs.
"Business NSW (Western NSW) appreciates the emergency funding to restore and repair damaged roads in the region, but we also recognise it's going to be a long road to bring the road network back," she said.
"We need all levels of government to be working together to provide the support required to get the roads repaired - our business community is counting on it.
"And whilst it might not be a conversation for now, we need to ensure that flood-proofing key arterial roads is on the future agenda."
In the meantime, Cr Beatty is urging the region's communities to support local businesses, particularly in the lead up to Christmas.
"One thing we have learned for the NSW Flood Inquiry is that communities supporting communities gets good results," he said.
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