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- Testers Hollow left high and dry
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- Testers Hollow: its time to raise the road
- RAISE THE ROAD: Fix Testers Hollow
- How many floods before the road is raised at Testers Hollow
- RAISE THE ROAD: No funding set down for Testers Hollow
- RAISE THE ROAD: Testers Hollow namesake rescued people from floodwater
- Testers needs united fix
- Federal funding needed for Testers Hollow
- Labor promises $10 million to fix Testers Hollow
- Liberals promise $15 million to fix Testers Hollow
Emergency access to Gillieston Heights may have been overlooked by Maitland City Council and the state planning authority, a recently released email has alleged.
The comment was in discussion points that a Roads and Maritime Services staff member circulated in an email in May, 2015 only weeks after the April super storm.
The email was released among documents obtained by NSW Labor under freedom of information laws earlier this month.
The talking points addressed the aftermath of the super storm and considered the impact of road flooding that isolated Gillieston Heights for almost a week.
It is considered that the adequacy of emergency access to Gillieston Heights (a suburb with young families) may have been overlooked by both Maitland City Council and the Department of Planning and Environment, the email noted.
As such, there is a broader need to consider the emergency access during flood events in the Lower Hunter within a broader land use planning context.
Councils urban growth manager Ian Shillington told Fairfax Media the original village of Gillieston Heights had existed for many years.
He said the state government rezoned new areas for homes between 2006 and 2010.
The areas that were rezoned were consistent with areas identified as suitable for residential purposes in both the Lower Hunter Regional Strategy and the Maitland Urban Settlement Strategy, Mr Shillington said.
No flood prone land was rezoned for residential purposes.
A Department of Planning and Environment spokesperson said the department was not responsible for road upgrades but had encouraged council and RMS to improve emergency access.
When approached for comment, an RMS spokesperson reiterated that an investigation was taking place into flood mitigation in the Testers Hollow area.
He said RMS have continued with Maitland Council and the Department of Planning and Environment to progress further flooding studies and mitigation.