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Extend Drought Relief Program For GormandalePeter Hall wants a State Government program for drought relief works to be extended beyond the end of June to enable replacement of an emergency bore and water supply at Gormandale. By Peter Hall - 27th June 2007 - Back to News Mr Hall said he was very concerned that an application by Wellington Shire Council for the bore had been knocked back because it could not be done before the end of this month.
"Unfortunately, droughts do not operate within a financial year, so I have called on the State Government, through the Minister for Water, Environment and Climate Change to give a commitment to continue funding into the 2007-08 financial year and enable Wellington shire to pursue its application on behalf of the Gormandale community," Mr Hall said.
The State Government provided $3 million for an emergency bore and water supply network, including the upgrade of existing sites and the establishment of new sites as proposed by water authorities.
Mr Hall told Parliament this week that establishment of an emergency water supply point was proposed at Gormandale by the Shire of Wellington and the Gormandale Recreation Reserve.
"They deemed it was necessary to have such a point there to provide drought assistance for those in the areas without water and also for the local Country Fire Authority and the recreation reserve users.
"The Shire said in its letter that an existing bore at Gormandale Recreation Reserve is currently out of commission due to suspected collapsing of the casing and it has been determined that a replacement bore would be the best option to restore a reliable water supply point in the Gormandale area."
However, the response was that deadlines for the funding program required invoicing by the end of May and for all works to be completed by the end of June, and these time constraints meant that the grant was not available, Mr Hall said.
"It does not say that funding has run out, nor does it give any indication of whether the funding is going to be available beyond this financial year. All it says is that time constraints prevented this application from proceeding further," he said.
"The Government needs to commit to provide funding into the 2007-08 financial year and enable further works to proceed."
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com

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