Despite the area battling the COVID-19 pandemic, the recovery progress from the devastating bushfires earlier this year is continuing.
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And the victims of the bushfires have not and will not be forgotten - that's the message from Shoalhaven City Council's bushfire recovery co-ordinator Vince Di Pietro.
"COVID-19 has certainly captured everyone's imagination at moment and there is good reason for that," he said.
"And we must heed the advice on social distancing, staying at home and not sneaking out for a quick Easter holiday.
"It's all sound advice and if we want to break this virus' back we can't afford to push the envelope."
But he was quick to agree with the message from National Bushfire Recovery Agency deputy coordinator Major General Andrew Hocking, who was on the South Coast recently, talking to recovery coordinators, local leaders, community representatives and victims - that the recovery continues on.
"Our bushfire victims have not been and won't be forgotten," Mr Di Pietro said.
Our bushfire victims have not been and wont be forgotten.
- Shoalhaven City Council's bushfire recovery co-ordinator Vince Di Pietro
"Sure the virus is impacting how we do things, it's impacting everyday life but we are still working - the recovery continues."
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The Shoalhaven faced a mammoth bushfire season with around 82 per cent of its 4,660 square kilometres of the city burnt to the ground, with Mr Di Pietro saying increased teams were now part of the clean-up, with work starting in Kangaroo Valley, Conjola and Yatte Yattah.
"We had a big victory a week or so ago with all telecommunications in the area back up and running," he said.
"So now, in effect, every house that someone is living in with a bathroom, kitchen etc now has power, running water and telecommunications.
"And that is certainly far better than some other local government areas at the moment."
Mr Di Pietro said questions had arisen over discrepancies for bushfire clean-up assistance.
"Shoalhaven City Council is not the contracting agency for the clean-up," he said.
"Certainly we are very interested bystanders with the impact on ratepayers and residents, and there does seem to be some misalignment between the scope of work and the clean-up and the messages that preceded it.
"We are certainly doing what we can to pursue that but we aren't the contracting agency.
"The foremost in my mind is to get it right.
"I'm really conscious people are being patient, compliant and reasonable as they can be and that's all anyone can ask."
He said the recovery efforts had achieved a couple of firsts in the past week.
One was the first webinar hosted by Laing O'Rourke and Shoalhaven City Council on the internet to reach out to as many local companies a possible who might want to get involved in the recovery efforts.
"We had more than 250 people online and received over 300 registrations for the event, where we could provide information and advice on how to register and join the registration process for locals to be part of the work," he said.
"Certainly they weren't all locals but what we did get was registrations from people who would be willing for help fill any gaps.
"That was a terrific boon.
"The other significant achievement was getting all the telecommunications back online."
He again urged residents to keep an eye on the Shoalhaven City Council's website or social media feeds for ongoing updates.
"We also continue to put out our bushfire recovery newsletter each week," he said.