During the superstorm last year the Hunter community turned to the hard-working volunteers of the State Emergency Service for help.
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The organisation was inundated with jobs and worked non-stop for several days to help the community.
This again happened in January when another storm lashed the region and many areas were flooded, including the controversial access road at Testers Hollow which connects Maitland and Kurri and Cessnock.
Thankfully the January storm was not as merciless as last year, but it
did highlight the reliance of the community on the SES.
After experiencing the inundation, and for some isolation, of the 2015 superstorm it would be sensible to think the community had learnt a lesson and had prepared for future severe weather events.
But only five months later the SES was again called in to pick up the pieces after just two days of heavy rain.
This is not a sustainable way for the community to operate into the future and makes the SES call for a say in development applications and city planning a timely one.
This is an organisation with a wealth of knowledge and experience on the front line of flood, fire and storm. It plans for emergency events, analyses its reaction to these events and then better plans for the next.
It seems strange that at a time when the area has been hit by several vicious storm patterns in 12 months -the one organisation with the most knowledge about them – the SES – is not involved in the planning process.
Those planning the future of Maitland, deciding where and what to build, could benefit greatly from the knowledge and experience of the local SES.
Why build a city that cannot sustain itself during the tough times.