People whose houses were damaged or destroyed due to Tropical Cyclone Seroja say they are frustrated at the delay and confusion in accessing funding from the Lord Mayor's Distress Relief Fund.
Tropical Cyclone Seroja crossed the West Australian coast on April 11 and caused widespread damage.
During a visit to Kalbarri on May 19, Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas announced the fund would be opened for people impacted by the devastating category 3 event as early as Monday, May 24.
From the $7.2 million of donations, payments of $25,000 will be made available for every house classified as totally destroyed following Tropical Cyclone Seroja and a further $10,000 for every property assessed to have suffered major damage making it uninhabitable, such as loss of roofs.
But following enquiries yesterday, a spokesperson from the Lord Mayor's Distress Relief Fund (LMDRF) said it was not anticipated that applications would be open until May 31 and that people should check the newly published frequently asked questions document rather than follow the information provided by the Lord Mayor during his visit.
Grateful for help, but timeline important
Rob Horstman's family home was damaged in the cyclone.
He has also been active in helping people access support in the Northampton region.
"I think the biggest thing is frustration," Mr Horstman said.
Mr Horstman said the community was grateful for the help and understood the fund was dealing with applications for help from other disasters such as bushfires.
But he said delivering to timelines was important for the community.
"There is a real fine line between organisations like the Lord Mayor's Relief Fund and the state government wanting people to know that hope and help is on the way, but balancing against when that's actually going to happen," he said.
Mr Horstman said the community had not been looking to the Lord Mayor's fund for help until the announcement made in Kalbarri by the Lord Mayor last Wednesday.
Payments in months, not days
When pledging the help, Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas said residents would be able to "access [the money] almost as soon as your application goes in".
However, the frequently asked questions document on the website said the application process and assessment normally took six to eight weeks.
"Timely responses to your local government and LMDRF queries will assist in speeding up the process," the document states.
Mr Hortstman said help was needed quickly.
"The money would be very useful for now," he said.
"I think some people are really starting to struggle. It's six weeks on now and six weeks living in a state of heightened anxiety and different levels of adrenaline. It's a real drain, so any support such as that, quickly, would be fantastic."
No capacity for applications
During his announcement, the Lord Mayor addressed concerns from local government authorities about the workload involved in accepting applications from residents and said help would be provided.
"Help is on its way, and help is available," he said.
"There will be team members from the Lord Mayor's Distress Relief Fund from Perth in the Midwest next week to help people process those applications."
A spokesperson has confirmed two representatives from the fund are visiting the 13 Local Government Authorities (LGA) over three days this week to "brief them about the LMDRF," but that applications would have to be made to the LGA's directly.
Mr Horstman said he was concerned that local government were already stretched, and them being asked to play a role in distributing the funding would increase their work burden.
Shire of Northampton chief executive Garry Keeffe said the shire would not be able to administer the fund and suggested the LMDRF employ locals to assist with applications.
"I don't know where this is coming from," Mr Keeffe said.
Lord Mayor's Fund not alone
Mr Horstman said there had also been poor communication on how to access state government relief funding.
"To this point, I haven't heard or seen anything, but I would be really hopeful that an announcement around that would be imminent," he said.
"Everybody is appreciative of what is coming.
