Gunnedah Shire Council in race against time to repair infrastructure ahead of harvest

The physical and emotional toll of months of floods has been exhausting for the whole community, Gunnedah Shire Council mayor Jamie Chaffey told the Leader.

Council resources are stretched to their limit, and with crops drenched farmers are unsure if they will even be able to harvest.

"It is a really, really tough time at council," he said.

"Our people, who are really doing amazing things, are under the pump.

"We're doing the best that we can to get roads trafficable, we understand it's not long until harvest."

For some, harvest is only a month away, and council is rushing to prepare what it can ahead of the busiest time of year for the agriculture sector.

"We know that will be a high pressure time in our community, and we do the best to keep people safe on the roads," Cr Chaffey said.

Hundreds of kilometres of sealed and unsealed roads, bridges and causeways urgently need to be repaired.

"It's a massive, massive task at the moment because of the amount of flooding and rain," Cr Chaffey said.

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"We are closing the roads when they need to be closed for flood water, no sooner, to get them open as quickly as we possibly can.

"That way people can go about their business and get to and from their farmland with their products, their goods, their services, and their daily needs."

Retail businesses across the region have felt the pinch of less customers, Cr Chaffey said, but it's the farmers who are dealing with another massive loss of income.

"I'm hearing many stories of crops that have been lost because of wither flooding water or water sitting that can't be moved, and that extended period of rain has had a severe impact," he said.

"Thankfully, we've had no lives lost."

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