Committee 4 Wagga (C4W) CEO Chris Fitzpatrick said levee bank funding was far from water tight and the city’s safety is at the mercy of the weather for the next eight years.

“It would be a catastrophic event if the city flooded – the security and safety of the city of Wagga is truly at stake,” Mr Fitzpatrick said.

“Looking at disasters in other cities, it would close businesses, damage all the buildings and set the city back by a minimum of 10 years.

“If the federal government contributed one third of the $23.5 million upgrade cost, the project could be completed in one hit.”

Mr Fitzpatrick urged the federal government to co-fund critically important NSW government projects, not split hairs over jurisdictions.

“C4W hopes the government involves itself in funding a Wagga bypass, even though it’s a state highway,” he said.

“Inland rail would provide opportunities for freight to travel from the proposed Bomen freight hub to Newcastle.”

The inland rail is a proposed rail connection between Melbourne and Brisbane via Wagga, tipped to rival road transit times.

Mayor Rod Kendall agreed eight years is too long to wait for the levee bank upgrade.

“There’s no value in any of the work we do until we finish the job because it’s only as good as the worst part.” 

Riverina MP Michael McCormack claimed he had been lobbying hard for levee bank funding but was in the dark about what the budget will hold.

“Had Wagga been flooded in 2012 the damage bill would have been in the tens of millions of dollars and so I’ve been lobbying the federal government for levee bank funding,” Mr McCormack said.

Mr McCormack also desperately hoped money would be set aside for the proposed Murray-Darling Medical School.