Deputy Premier Paul Toole says communities must change the way they rebuild

The region has been smashed by heavy rainfall and widespread flooding in recent weeks, leaving communities like Forbes, Eugowra, Molong and Condobolin devastated.

Mr Toole's own electorate of Bathurst was also affected by flooding, but to a much lesser extent.

READ MORE: 'We're very fortunate': Bathurst escapes major damage during floods

He said houses should not be built on flood plains, while roads and bridges need to be constructed differently.

"First of all, I don't think any houses should be built on flood plains. Building houses on flood plains, eventually you know there's going to be floods. You're putting houses at risk, you're putting lives at risk," he said.

"There has to be a better systems to make sure no houses are built on flood plains.

"Bathurst has done a good job over the years. There was a decision made over 20 years ago to purchase homes situated on the flood plain in and around Hereford Street. Those houses were bought back over a period of time and that is now seeing green space in that area.

"While we've got to make sure when we're rebuilding roads and bridges, we need to make sure we don't build them at the same standard.

"In some instances, we're seeing roads cut off. That could be because there's a metre depth of water that goes over the bridge, but the road access is actually fine.

"What you have to do when you rebuild these bridges, lift them, raise them, make them higher so they're more resilient and have better opportunities to withstand the floodwaters happening in the community."

MR TOOLE said the NSW Government has already rolled out $4 billion to communities affected by flooding.

Funding is available not just to home owners, but to local councils as well.

"If you look at the floods we've had recently in the Central West, there are a number of different packages available for individuals and households," he said.

"There's funding their for councils, primary producer grants, there's rural land-holder grants.

"There's a number of packages right now, to support them in their recovery and getting them back on their feet.

"If people are looking for that detailed information, I certainly encourage them to go to Service NSW to get all the full details on how each of the programs work."

Mr Toole believes the state government is getting better at rolling money out to natural disaster victims quicker, but it's still a challenge considering the widespread-nature of disasters across NSW.

"The unfortunate thing is, we've had so many natural disasters over the past 12 months," he said.

"Whilst we've gotten better dealing with them and getting money out the door to support communities, at the moment they're just so widespread.

"We've got 75 local government areas that are natural disaster-declared areas.

"There are many communities that have been impacted, that are rebuilding and recovering, but it doesn't always take weeks or months, for some of those communities, it might take years."

ONLY a few years ago, the Central West was dealing with severe drought.

Now it seems like the complete opposite.

Mr Toole said the NSW Government is more than happy to work with local councils, to make sure they've got the right infrastructure is place.

"Only a couple of years ago we were talking about droughts, now we're talking about floods," he said.

"I think you've always got to build back better. Whether it's roads or bridges. We've got to put the right infrastructure in.

"I've always said the NSW Government will always work with local councils in a partnership, to build the projects needed in their communities.

"While local roads and bridges have been impacted, the state government will actually assist those councils in rebuilding that infrastructure.

"They also need to plan ahead. They need to make sure they're putting priorities forward. There's no point sitting back, they need to be proactively thinking of the design of bridges and roads, then being ready to act as soon as funding becomes available for those kind of projects.

"We've seen over a $1 billion in the last three years going out to council for their roads. Councils have put forward priority roads that they would like to see fixed up and the state government has helped them.

"It's the same with replacing timber bridges. Here in the Bathurst electorate, a number of timber bridges have been earmarked for replacements."

MR TOOLE said his government is committed to raising the Wyangala Dam wall.

But he was highly critical of the federal government's recent budget, which he said "cut the guts out of regional NSW".

"Dams in some cases are used for flood mitigation. We're still committed to the raising of the dam wall at Wyangala. That's an important project for those communities downstream, including Forbes," he said.

"What we've seen is the federal government defer its funding for a number of dam projects across the state for the next few years.

"These are projects that we see are critical for regional NSW. Federal Labor has turned its back on rural NSW and we need to see funding into the regions.

"They need to understand that when regional NSW is doing well, it'll benefit the economy of not just NSW, but all of Australia."

Mr Toole said the government has been assisting with Bathurst Regional Council with its water infrastructure projects.

"Whilst Bathurst Regional Council is the water authority, we've been able to assist them with over $20 million water infrastructure projects," he said.

"That includes storm water harvesting, strengthening Winburndale Dam. We'll continue to work with council on those projects.

"It's about being proactive and as your town continues to grow, your building the infrastructure that is required, having the amenities required.

"They need to work out the future planning around Hereford Street, Eleven Mile Drive, the medical centre, the TAFE building. They need to work out what their priorities are and listing them and acting on them."

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