• PHOTO: Desperate local farmers offer to help repair damaged local roads. Coonamble farmer Simon Ibbott demonstrates the size of ruts his family need to negotiate each day to get to town. PHOTO SUPPLIED.
DESPERATE rural ratepayers are asking council for permission to use their own equipment to fix public roads destroyed by months of wet weather and what they say is years of neglect.
A handful of frustrated farmers arranged an informal meeting with senior council staff and the mayor last Wednesday ahead of the monthly council meeting.
Don Schieb, Ken Waterford, Mark Meers, Georges Lefebvre, Andrew Windsor and local businessman Robert Thomas attended the session.
Mayor Tim Horan, councillors Pat Cullen, Karen Churchill, Terry Lees and Brian Sommerville were on hand along with senior staff Ross Earl, Bruce Quarmby and Daniel Noble.
The farmers came not just with complaints but with genuine questions and offers of assistance, showing a willingness to work with council in an attempt to address the unworkable state of local roads.
The group questioned council’s commitment to rural ratepayers, who contribute approximately 85% – or almost $4 million – of the shire’s annual rate revenue.
More than one of the farmers said they had previously offered to pay for gravel to be delivered to where it was needed.
“There is a causeway on our road that could have been fixed up a month ago with a load of gravel,” said Don Schieb. “I contacted council and asked for two loads of gravel, and offered to pay for it.”
“Now there is 300 to 400 tonnes of gravel that needs to come in but you can’t get trucks over it.”
A key proposal was that the landowners be allowed to use their own machinery to undertake repairs to council-owned roads through their properties.
“We’ve got graders, we’ve got tippers,” said Mark Meers. “We can put a grader out there and get trucks to cart the gravel.”
“We’ve got to be able to go out and do it,” he said.
“How can we make it happen?” said George Lefebvre, who also questioned whether there was a shortage of gravel from the council-owned Magometon Quarry because it was being sold to outside buyers.
“Where does our gravel go to?” he asked. “I know it’s wet at the moment but we can’t use that as an excuse. The roads have washed away because they have not been maintained properly.”
Cr Horan reassured him that having gravel available for local road repairs remains council’s top priority but explained that council is also reliant on income from gravel sales because much of the rest of their budget is tied by government legislation, making it unavailable for road repairs.
The group gave instances of multiple families along a rural road unable to reach the township, backing claims that attendance at local schools had dropped by 20 to 30 per cent in recent months.
“There are four families near where I live,” said Andrew Windsor. “Surely council has a responsibility to someone like us? Where’s the support?”
“We need a practical solution and fast, we’re all hemmed in and we can’t get out.”
“I had a permanent employee leave recently and I haven’t advertised to replace him because I’d be embarrassed to ask people to come here,” Mr Meers said. “We’ve got one family with five kids, they’ve got to be able to come to town safely.”
Road maintenance methods came in for criticism – from causeways that are too short or in the wrong place, to tabledrains that are not graded to drain water away from the roads, and roads that have been graded to well below the level of surrounding paddocks rather than being built up.
“These roads didn’t just happen today,” said Ken Waterford. “It’s not the floods, the floods have just brought it to a head.”
“The Come by Chance Road has been open for two months in the past 12 months, and to go five kilometres I’ve got to drive 150 kilometres through town.”
“We’re all out there and half our wives are in town living in the caravan park,” he said. “I believe we should stop paying rates for three years. We’re not getting value for money.”
“If we say we’re going to fix something we fix it; if we’re going to do something we do it – council has got to stop talking about it.”
“We are not here to throw knives, we are desperate,” said Andrew Windsor. “We’re all here to say we’ll work with council.”
“We’ve got dangerous roads, we’re just desperate for council to take the lead,” he said.