A partial merger of the State Emergency Service and the NSW Rural Fire Service is being considered by the State Government after recommendations from the independent flood inquiry.
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If the recommendations are adopted, it would leave big questions about jobs at Wollongong's SES headquarters, which opened in 2017.
Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery believes the decision is making the SES a scapegoat for the response to the the February flood disaster.
Government agencies failed communities in responding to major flooding in New South Wales this year, and failed affected communities, the parliamentary inquiry found.
The inquiry is recommending the SES restructure to harness local knowledge, and that Resilience NSW be abolished.
READ MORE: The flood inquiry's recommendations
Former NSW SES Deputy Director-General Chas Keys said he's seen this reaction many times before.
"It's always a knee jerk reaction to look at restructuring rather than focusing on the problem," Mr Keys said.
"The question is, how do we mitigate the issue of flood prone areas.
"In the Northern Rivers floods, SES crews couldn't get to their boats to rescue people because there was no access.
"The 'tinny army' carried out most of the rescues because they had their boats.
Mr Keys said locals acted against emergency agency advice to rescue locals.
"It was an extreme event in Lismore in February and the catalyst for this inquiry.
Labor's Walt Secord, led the parliamentary committee into the floods disaster.
"The committee found that the [State Emergency Service and Resilience NSW] failed to provide leadership and effective coordination in the community's greatest time of need," Mr Secord told parliament.
The report found that information from the State Emergency Service (SES) and Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) was "incorrect and out of date", leaving the community with "no other option but to ignore government advice and save lives".
The recommendations from the inquiry, included that the SES, undergo a restructure.
Cr Bradbery said it's reversing the decision to decentralise operations.
"The decision to base the SES headquarters in Wollongong was a boost to regional job opportunities," Cr Bradbery said.
"With the communication technology available, there's no need for the SES to be based in the centre of Sydney.
"The question remains, whether more than 200 local staff would be willing to travel to Sydney for work.
"The recent report has highlighted the need for local knowledge. If we lose staff, does it mean there will be improved emergency responses," Cr Bradbery questioned.
"We have a large population in NSW that live on the coastline. More people are being invited to live in vulnerable areas with high density. Better planning is needed to mitigate the impact of climate change."
Cr Bradbery said the flooding events of February caught everyone off guard.
"The SES wasn't just facing the Northern Rivers flood situation. Locally, we experienced an east coast low, with damaging waves and rain. There was a suite of issues and disasters that needed to be dealt with.
"The SES is being scapegoated for events that no one was able to predict."
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