The past 12 months have seen Forestry Corporation of NSW implement a $46 million bushfire recovery program to repair NSW State forests, the largest in the organisation’s history. Source: Timberbiz
Locally, this has seen a total of $2.5 million invested to rebuild Eden State forest roads and bridges lost in the 2019-20 bushfire season and $1.7 million spent on roads and bridges in the Batemans Bay State forest.
The program has already seen five bridges and road signage replaced, and a program of work implemented to make the forests safe again to visitors in the Batemans Bay area, and two bridges and two concreted culverts replaced around Eden.
“The last 12 months have been challenging for the forestry industry and communities of the south coast, but we are pleased to be rebuilding forest infrastructure through the support of the NSW government,” Forestry Corporation Harvesting and Roading Manager, Jarod Addinsall, said .
“We’ve been working closely with local industry to replace bridges and make the forests safe again, with a lot more work slated for delivery over the coming months.
“This investment has made a positive impact to both our forests and communities; where possible we have used local contractors and suppliers,” Mr Addinsall said.
In the Eden area, completed work to date includes:
- bridge replacements on Wallaby Road (Yambulla State Forest), Bingera Road (Yambulla State Forest), Bens Road (Yambulla State Forest), Tin Mine Road (Tantawangalo State forest) and Scrubby Creek access trail (East Boyd State Forest)
- forest safety program to remove dangerous trees and repair forest roads
- replacement of damaged road signs and guide posts on Imlay and Edrom Roads, Yambulla and East Boyd State Forests.
Forestry Corporation will also soon install four concrete bridges, three box culverts and continue a program of road grading locally as part of this program.
In the Batemans Bay area, work included:
- bridge replacements on Maulbrooks Road (Mogo State Forest) and Three Falls Road (Flat Rock State Forest)
- concrete culvert replacements on Three Falls Road (Flat Rock State Forest) and Bombay Fire Trail (Tallaganda State Forest)
- repairing the Wagonga Scenic Drive landslip adjacent to the road
- forest safety program to remove dangerous trees and repair forest roads.
Forestry Corporation will also soon replace burnt bridges on Tomboye Road and Burma Road crossings with concrete culverts and continue a program of road grading locally as part of this program.
The work is part of the $46 million equity injection and is part of the larger NSW Government $100 million COVID stimulus package, designed to directly stimulate economies in regional NSW.
Forestry Corporation Acting CEO Anshul Chaudhary said this equity injection had seen investment to support the forestry industry and support recovering regional communities.
“The work happening across the south coast is a great example of how government and industry are working together to help regional communities recover from the 2019-20 bushfire season,” he said.
“Over the past 12 months, the equity injection has seen Forestry Corporation repair priority damaged public infrastructure, expand its Grafton and Blowering nurseries and start replanting bushfire-affected State forests.”
Find out more about Forestry Corporation’s bushfire recovery program at www.forestrycorporation.com.au
