The state road authority discussed stalling a flood fix for Testers Hollow less than a year ago, an email shows.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The email, released under freedom of information law, came after a groundswell of concern moved federal Labor to promise $10 million and the Liberal Party to pledge $15 million in the lead-up to last years election to stop flooding at Testers Hollow.
There had been desperate calls from the community for the road to be raised after it was cut by floodwater for several days after the 2015 April super storm and again in January, 2016.
In the July 13 email, a staff member suggested to Roads and Maritime Service regional manager Anna Zycki that the RMS should buy more time and spin the need for more investigation into the Testers Hollow situation to the state government.
It referred to a conversation between the author and another staff member, called Mike, who does not agree that Testers Hollow is a problem worthy of $10 million to solve.
He suggested that the message we give to the Minister is that we need to do some investigation of the problem and cost of the solutions at a strategic level and highlight that this is not necessarily a major problem.
The email went on to say: I suggest that we spin this as a piece of investigation.
RMS and the state government agreed not to go ahead with flood-proofing Testers Hollow in early 2015, three months before the super storm.
Fairfax Media received a statement in response to an interview request about the email.
Roads and Maritime Services has received $15 million from the Australian Government to progress further studies into flooding mitigation measures at Cessnock Road, Testers Hollow, the spokesperson said.
Further studies are required to help inform future flood mitigation measures to ensure any work carried out to reduce the impact of flooding at Testers Hollow does not negatively impact the surrounding areas.
By mid-April, Roads and Maritime expects to put in a submission to the Australian Government to use the funding for refinements to previous flood modelling and to carry out geotechnical and survey work.
Further funding is being sought from the Australian Government to ensure an appropriate solution can be identified and implemented.
Nick Bielby
Nick Bielby is a crime reporter who has worked as a journalist since 2011. Having joined the Newcastle Herald in 2017, he won a Walkley Award in 2019 with Donna Page for their investigation 'Dirty Deeds', which exposed the decades of illegal dumping of toxic material in and around a Hunter waterway.
Nick Bielby is a crime reporter who has worked as a journalist since 2011. Having joined the Newcastle Herald in 2017, he won a Walkley Award in 2019 with Donna Page for their investigation 'Dirty Deeds', which exposed the decades of illegal dumping of toxic material in and around a Hunter waterway.
