The Snowy Monaro has commenced planning for bush fire recovery with a Regional Recovery Committee established to help those affected by the current fires.

Former senior police commander Dick Adams has been appointed as the Regional Recovery Coordinator.

The journey to recovery will take some time. With the fire threat still active in parts of the region, Snowy Monaro Regional Council’s current priorities are keeping people safe, providing a roof over everyone’s heads, and ensuring essential services such as water supply and waste collection are running as normal.

A Regional Recovery Committee has been established covering Snowy Monaro, Bega Valley, Eurobodalla, Shoalhaven, Snowy Valley and Queanbeyan-Palerang Councils, with the first telephone hook-up taking place today (Friday 10 January).

This committee will include local government and State agencies and will coordinate activities across the region.

Chief Executive Officers and General Managers from the six Councils discussed recovery efforts with the Office of Emergency Management last Friday. The NSW Government will bring key agencies together to assess damage and the needs of the community.

The Federal and State Governments are committed to supporting our community throughout the recovery process.

Council will work with NSW Government agencies to transition from providing emergency temporary accommodation to disaster welfare assistance. A temporary Disaster Welfare Centre will shortly be opened at the SMRC Cooma library pending a more long-term arrangement.

An internal Local Recovery Committee has been established to commence developing a draft recovery action plan. The final membership of the committee and the recovery plan will depend on the ultimate impacts across the region.

Recovery information will be provided on Council’s website – www.snowymonaro.nsw.gov.au – and Snowy Monaro Regional Council’s Facebook page.

Community meetings will be held across the region in the coming weeks.

Please continue to focus on your safety and to monitor Council’s Facebook page and website.