"A LITERAL drop in the pothole" is how Cessnock mayor Jay Suvaal has described the state government's $50 million kitty to fix local roads.
Local councils have struggled to keep up with patch-ups after heavy rains left crater-like potholes and a mountain of repair bills in their wake.
Since July, Cessnock City Council has repaired at least 54,000 potholes on local roads alone and millions of dollars worth of recovery works lay ahead.
"... It is a literal drop in the pothole in regard to the level of funding required to fix potholes during ordinary times, let alone following the natural disasters the Cessnock local government area has experienced," Cr Suvaal said.
The council's road networks were significantly impacted after three major flooding events in 2021 and 2022, including more than 10 landslips, road and bridge failures and other damage.
While a final figure for the total cost to the council's infrastructure is yet to be determined, it has already spent millions on roadworks following recent floods.
NSW Regional Transport and Roads Minister Sam Farraway said 95 councils are eligible at the announcement in Lovedale on Tuesday.
"NSW has had more than its fair share of natural disasters and extreme weather and it's promising to see that more than 135,000 potholes have been repaired on state roads in regional NSW since February," Mr Farraway said.
"However, plenty more potholes still require attention, particularly on council-managed roads, which is why our government is putting more money on the table for councils to repair potholes on the roads regional communities use every day.
"This additional support will help ease the pressure local councils are facing and boost the resources they can draw upon to repair their most damaged roads to improve safety and reduce wear and tear on vehicles."
It's expected it could fix roughly more than 420,000 potholes.
Work under this round of the Fixing Local Roads Pothole Repair program must be completed by January, 2024.
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