Port Macquarie-Hastings Council received the annual NSW Government Funding Assistance for the upkeep of pre-1984 flood mitigation works.

The works covered are floodgate maintenance or replacement, levee maintenance and other drainage maintenance to ensure the systems are working at optimum efficiency.

In 1970, the NSW government agreed to subsidise maintenance costs for some schemes on ‘a dollar for dollar’ basis with councils.

In 1984 it became mandatory for councils to accept full  responsibility for all new works. More recent flood mitigation schemes have lower maintenance requirements.

Record Tourism for NSW

As we continue to enjoy a bumper tourism season, particularly over the Easter weekend in Port Macquarie and the Camden Haven, the latest tourism figures show we are not alone.

A record 31.6 million Aussie tourists travelled across the state in 2017, staying over 100 million nights in total, making NSW the first in Australia to reach these incredible results.

NSW continues to set the bar for domestic overnight visitor numbers, with the state welcoming 31.6 million visitors in the year ended December 2017, which is nearly 10 million more than Queensland and 7.1 million more than Victoria.

This exceptional growth was evenly spread, with both Sydney and rural and regional NSW visitation growing by eight per cent.

Australians are also spending more than ever before when travelling in NSW, with expenditure growth up 11.6 per cent; double the national growth percentage.

NSW is $5 billion ahead of Victoria, its highest expenditure lead over the State since year-end March 2014, and notched its highest lead on record over Queensland of $2.8 billion.