Blue Mountains clean-up almost done

The clean-up from last year's devastating bushfires in the NSW Blue Mountains is almost complete, with more than 90 per cent of destroyed properties cleared three months on from the disaster.

The state government says 181 out of 196 properties have now been cleaned up, and that most of the outstanding properties are "either being cleared independently by residents or by insurers outside of government contracts".

"This has been a massive task and I pay tribute to the crews who have worked so tirelessly removing thousands of tonnes of debris from homes that were destroyed," Finance and Services Minister Andrew Constance said in a statement on Friday.

More than 200 homes were lost in the October fires, but weeks of delays in getting the clearing operation under way upset residents who wanted to get on with rebuilding.

Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill was especially critical of the slow progress insurance contractors were making in clearing bushfire damaged homes and debris in the wake of the blazes.

Emergency Services Minister Michael Gallacher said the "the last few months have been incredibly stressful for residents".

"Our objective has been to make sure clean-up works were done as quickly as possible so people could get on with rebuilding," he said.

Mr Gallacher said staff from Public Works, the Environment Protection Authority, Legal Aid and Fair Trading were still available to to assist people affected by the fires.