Federal Labor has promised $3 million to help alleviate floor dangers in Wallsend and called on the NSW government to use part of Hunter Water's lucrative annual dividends for the project.
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If it wins government on May 18, Labor will pay to rebuild the Boscawen Street bridge, one of three near the suburb's main street which act as a debris trap and contribute to flash flooding.
City of Newcastle has committed to rebuilding the Tyrell Street bridge over Ironbark Creek and called on the state government to upgrade the Nelson Street bridge.
The council's flood mitigation plan for Wallsend also includes channel widening which will cost about $20 million, a project Newcastle MP Sharon Claydon said the state government could fund from Hunter Water's profits.
Hunter Water is paying a $44 million dividend this year to the Berejiklian government, which has also tried to extract an extra $100 million dividend in 2019.
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"I've no doubt the state government would love to see those funds returned into consolidated revenue, but you have to give serious consideration to the fact those funds were raised from people in this area," Ms Claydon said on Sunday.
The Pasha Bulker storm inundated shops and houses in Wallsend in 2007, and flooding from storms in 2015 and 2016 also cut off streets in the suburb.
The council has allocated $2.5 million for the Tyrell Street bridge in its 2019-20 draft budget and called for tenders in March.
Nelson Street newsagent Brett James said residents and business owners would welcome movement on a long-awaited solution to Wallsend's flood problems.
"If it's really belting down and there's big storms coming, sometimes they do think to themselves, 'Is it going to happen again in this area,'" he said.
"There's no doubt that will give residents a lot more confidence about the infrastructure that's here."
But, after more than a decade, he was keen to know when work would start.
Ms Claydon said the business community had been "very, very supportive" of trying to have the Wallsend flood mitigation plan implemented but a "lack of dollars has stymied the project".
She hoped the Labor announcement would provide "impetus for the NSW government to jump on board".
Hunter Water said in a media statement in March last year that the council had responsibility for flood planning and owned most storm-water assets.
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Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
