LABOR-ORIENTATED councillors have struck back at Wagga MP Daryl Maguire’s extraordinary levee bank outburst.
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Daniel Hayes and Vanessa Keenan took exception to Mr Maguire’s accusations, citing their votes to progress the levee bank to a tender stage as evidence of their initiative.
Cr Hayes said it was “ridiculous” to imply that two members of a council could stifle the long-awaited flood prevention measure.
“The two votes from myself and Vanessa were the reasons it got over the line as other councillors voted against the tender process starting,” he said.
“Daryl said the council should fund PCYC one month ago, and now he’s saying we should only focus on rates, rubbish and roads.
“More has happened for the levee bank since the September election than years prior.”
He accused the NSW government of dragging its heels when it initially funded the project.
“The state government funding kept getting delayed, delayed and delayed – with the City of Wagga waiting for the funds to be put together.”
His colleague, Vanessa Keenan, took a shot at the lack of funding allocated to Wagga.
“This state government has a $4.5 billion surplus, and only $4.5 million was allocated to flood protection measures across the state,” she said.
“The only reason this was able to progress was because of the tireless lobbying of the council.”
Former councillor Mary Kidson believes the delays may be related to Wagga City Council’s leadership.
“I wonder if some of the delay is due to what seemed to be a poor level of administration and leadership,” Mrs Kidson said.