Council to assist residents with flood-affected properties 

Sunday, 9 May 2021

Penrith City Council hopes to ease the burden of flood recovery for residents affected by the March 2021 flood crisis by waiving Development Application (DA) fees on flood-affected properties.

As water swept the City’s streets following the deluge of rain, some homeowners experienced damage to their land and, in a few cases, lower levels of their houses.

Council’s offer to waive associated DA costs for these residents aims to simplify and assist in the rebuild of their impacted properties.

Penrith Mayor Karen McKeown OAM said Council will also prioritise such DAs submitted in a bid to speed up the flood recovery process.

“When we look around the City it is business as usual, however, there are a few residents still working to repair and clean up their properties following what was Penrith’s worst flood since 1961,” Cr McKeown said.

“Nepean River made news headlines in March as the flooding caused an unprecedented rise in its water level; we heard stories of local families scrambling to keep water away from their backyards and out of their homes.

“The offer to waive DA fees applies to members of the community who have been left with issues such as land erosion and property damage.

“We are also committed to fast-tracking submissions of this nature as the approvals process can take some time.”

Council stresses that this offer applies to flood-affected properties only and does not extend to properties with general storm damage.

Information contained within this news release was correct as at Sunday, 9 May 2021.