Bushfire damage bill in Port Macquarie estimated at $8 million

The council said it will continue to seek and apply for eligible funding from both the federal and state governments to undertake appropriate construction and restoration works.

Director Dan Bylsma said customer requests are also being addressed as part of the clean-up effort.

"Council estimate the damage to community assets and facilities across our region due to the recent bushfires to be in the vicinity of $8m," he said.

"This includes damage to our rural road and bridge network, stormwater assets, parks and recreational facilities and other community assets.

"Customer requests received regarding damaged assets have been assessed and are being addressed as part of the ongoing restoration effort.

"Council will continue to seek and apply for eligible funding from the federal and state governments' to undertake appropriate construction and restoration works."

Councils across the Mid-North Coast received $1m in funding in early January.

This was topped up shortly after with further funding from a federal government package of around $17m.

Cowper MP Pat Conaghan said all five bushfire-affected councils in the electorate received further funding from the National Bushfire Recovery Agency.

Federal member for Cowper Pat Conaghan said funding for councils would range from $225,000 to $416,667 depending on the impact and devastation caused by the blazes.

"Local councils have received major damage to infrastructure, assets and public facilities since the unprecedented bushfires tore through our region," he said.

"A total of 17 facilities were damaged or destroyed in the bushfires: six in the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council area, seven in the Kempsey area and four in Nambucca Valley when fires destroying more than 130,000 hectares of land tore through.

"Mayors and councillors are extremely close to their communities and have in-depth knowledge of how the bushfires have impacted their areas and communities.

"This is why the National Bushfire Recovery Agency has made this independent decision to direct money toward their recovery."

The assistance allocated by the National Bushfire Recovery Agency in this latest $17 million package includes:

This funding was determined by the National Bushfire Recovery Agency through analysing a range of factors including population, disaster recovery payments already received, the area burnt and socio- economic factors of the council area.