Federal Member for Macquarie Susan Templeman has welcomed the head of the country’s bushfire recovery agency, who visited the region last Friday for the first time since the 2019/20 bushfire crisis.

“I joined National Bushfire Recovery Agency (NBRA) Coordinator Andrew Colvin, APM OAM, and his team after they had  met with Blue Mountains City Council representatives and manager of Lithgow Zig Zag Railway, Daniel Zolfe. We were joined by Hawkesbury City Council representatives as well as Bilpin businesses during his March 5 visit,” Ms Templeman said.

“The return visit by the NBRA to check on the progress of bushfire recovery and discuss the ongoing issues slowing that recovery is very welcome.

“I raised issues around the bushfire local economic recovery program and the lack of fairness in the first round of those grants, which meant the Blue Mountains did not receive one cent of recovery funding and only a relatively small amount delivered to the Hawkesbury.

“I also raised concerns about whether the current round under consideration by the NSW Government would be fairly distributed.

“There are still ongoing issues for people seeking assistance under other federally-funding agricultural grant programs, and a lack of support for fencing and tree removal on privately owned properties that fall outside the NSW Government’s criteria.

“Another very distressing issue is around the very small amount of environmental recovery funding that has flowed to the Blue Mountains World Heritage area, which is an issue that Shadow Minister for the Environment and Water, Terri Butler, and I discussed last week with leading local environment groups.”

Mr Colvin met with local businesses including Tutti Fruitt