While the South Burnett is desperate to get its Disaster Funding upgraded to “Category C”, the chairman of the umbrella council organisation for the region is pushing for an even higher level, “Category D”.
Gympie Mayor Ron Dyne – who is also chairman of the Wide Bay Regional Organisation of Councils (WBBROC) – told ABC Radio today that some farmers in the area covered by the five councils have not had a crop for two years due to flooding.
He said they cannot afford to repay the low-interest loans available under Category C disaster payments.
Both the North Burnett and Gympie council areas have been declared Category C.
Cr Dyne said Category D offered more money, a grant component and no repayments or interest in the first two years.
He said hundreds of kilometres of fencing had been damaged in the Booubyjan and Mary Valley areas.
“Irrigators … have just been rolled up like confetti,” he told the ABC.
