Byrnes’ Road.
At their November meeting, Council has reviewed its Capital and Operating budget in response to changing operational conditions.
The big changes for the quarter are:
The re-prioritisation of roads expenditure towards Old Junee and Byrnes Roads.
-Income and Expenditure for the Athenium Capacity Enhancement Project.
Council have said their cash position is stronger than in the past but these changes affect Council’s budget for the remainder of the year.
Detailed in the Quarterly Budget Review Report are changes to Council’s 2022/23 budget which have been made in response to changes in the financial landscape and issues which have arisen since the budget was adopted at its meeting on June 28.
This enables Council to have an accurate picture of where it will finish at the end of the financial year.
Council noted roads as a major issue. There was an increase in operational Road Funding of $150,000 for emergency flood recovery works following the August flood event.
The event was declared a natural disaster enabling Council to claim the emergency works under the Natural Disaster Funding Arrangements. Consequently, operating income and expenditure for roads have both been increased by this amount.
Council incurred additional damage to the road network resulting from another flood event at the end of October which will likely require further amendments to the budget for emergency flood recovery roadworks in the second quarterly budget review.
An increase of $50,000 for the construction of traffic facilities on regional roads has been slated. This has been offset by additional Regional Road Block Grant funding.
There have been many offsetting changes to the Roads Capital Budget in response to recent floods. Although these nett out to nil, it is a significant change in where Council will spend its roads budget.
These works were required to address hazardous road conditions resulting from the ongoing wet weather. Sections of roadway along both Old Junee Road and Byrnes Road had seen heavy damage, requiring immediate works.
Accordingly, Council Officers have made funding applications through the Fixing Local Roads funding arrangements for the rehabilitation of Old Cootamundra Road and the next stage of Brabin’s Road.
Junee Shire Council said, “Work funded by this grant has commenced from 1 December 2022 and must be complete by 1 January 2024.
The money can be spent on routine corrective maintenance of potholes and unplanned maintenance activities on local roads.”
An increase of $606,000 in both income and expenditure was noted for the Athenium Theatre capacity enhancement project.
Council have reiterated that they are financially stable, but are planning to move forward with an SRV to keep it that way.
Jack Murray
