FOR those who lived through it, the Pasha Bulker storm might feel like yesterday. But 16 years since it transformed Nobbys, its dangers are alive and well in the streets of Wallsend.
The storm drains in that suburb remain as much a risk as they once were.
Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery says she has spent 16 years fighting to have the drains that flooded in those storms, devastating the area's CBD, widened to prevent a repeat. It is an indictment on decision-makers that the project has failed to progress from the theoretical into something more concrete.
City of Newcastle's advocacy document ahead of the state election estimates they have put $20 million towards upgrades including new bridges, improvements that hinge on the Ironbark Creek drain widening to be fully effective.
The drain belongs to Hunter Water, and the cost of widening has been pegged at $40 million.
Hunter Water and the state government say they are willing to play a part in the solution but the onus is on the council. The council says footing that bill is beyond its means, and an asset it doesn't own.
Studies have abounded for Wallsend flood mitigation but results are scarcer.
Labor on Friday pledged to run a feasibility study into the upgrades, but the question is whether it is feasible failing to explicitly commit to a project the party's representative in the area has lobbied tirelessly for since 2007. Hunter Water says the project would cost $40 million to complete, a figure that anyone undertaking building work can attest is unlikely to shrink the longer those responsible wait to act.
That is not to discredit Ms Hornery's efforts in keeping the matter front of mind. But government must wrangle competing priorities, and it is crucial that Wallsend reach the top of that list.
At the same time, and as Ms Hornery points out, the incumbent state government deserves few plaudits for delivering nothing to prevent the problem from recurring.
Wallsend may be a safe Labor seat at state level but if that dissuades expenditure it is a folly. That thinking is the mindset of a party, not a government; once elected, there is a mandate for those in power to act for the best interests of all, regardless of who won their vote at the ballot box.
If an equally ferocious storm hits once again, it is a near certainty no-one will be talking about how much money was saved.
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