EXTREME weather events that rip up trees, damage homes and leave debris strewn around suburbs can sometimes take months to clean up.
Lake Macquarie council wants to streamline services and fill a 'gap' in the level of support offered to locals after wild weather that does damage but is not declared a natural disaster.
The council will write to the NSW SES, Minister for Emergency Services and Local Government NSW to look at how they can alleviate the cost burden to impacted homes and help tidy up vegetation and debris.
Labor Cr Adam Shultz put the motion before council and said there are no agreements between NSW SES and local councils to remove debris or green waste.
"So effectively, the SES attend to 'make safe', if there is a storm, if there's a tree across your driveway or there's roof tiles that are smashed, they will make the area safe," he said.
"However, it's up to residents, by their own means, to effectively remove and dispose of any vegetation or debris material."
Cr Shultz said he wants to start a conversation about how the process could be streamlined so debris isn't left as is "for months on end".
"We have an ageing population, a lot of people don't have the resources or know-how, in terms of removing excess debris," he said.
"So if councils can collaborate and coordinate with the NSW SES and try to resolve this in the future, I think that's a win for everyone."
The council will request financial support for residents to cover the costs associated with the removal of storm debris generated as a result of NSW SES attendance and clean up.
A request will also be sent to Local Government NSW to advocate for agreements between the NSW SES and the state's 128 councils to provide funding to councils to remove green waste or debris after a storm or flooding.
A NSW SES spokeswoman said that it is not the responsibility of the NSW SES to remove debris, rubbish, fallen trees and branches from properties.
"During and following storm activity, NSW SES volunteers attend houses to make the area safe, restore access and undertake temporary repairs to homes to avoid further damage," she said.
"By undertaking general preparedness activities, such as trimming trees and branches and clearing gutters, the impacts of storms will be lessened."
Labor Cr Brian Adamthwaite said it is about starting a conversation.
"This isn't the guidelines for how this would operate," he said.
"I think we need to take a great, big, long step back to start off with to understand this at all."
When a natural disaster is declared, the state government makes assistance available to communities and individuals that are affected.
The level of assistance provided depends on the scale of the disaster.
When a weather event does not meet the criteria to be declared as a natural disaster, the cost of cleaning up fallen trees or debris on private property generally falls to the individual who owns it.
Labor Cr David Belcher said he felt the idea was particularly important for Lake Macquarie given its ageing population and number of people with disabilities living in the city.
"Fundamentally, the community expects the different arms of government and the organisations that work for the public to work together," he said.
"This is what that's about, bringing those organisations together so we're all on the same page."
The weekend's wet weather saw NSW SES crews respond to 40 requests for assistance in Newcastle and about 30 in Lake Macquarie.
Most of the call outs were related to water ingress to homes, tree damage and sandbagging.
