Diary of a Flood Survivor

the Tweed section of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail poses some constraints and risks that prevent horses from riding on its entirety.

“Tweed Shire Council is responsible for the operation and safety of all users on the Tweed section of the Rail Trail, including horses and their riders,” Ms Stodart said.

“And, if they’re going to trial it at least make it 5 - 10kms one way or from tunnel to tunnel, so you have people showing an interest.

“Are they just going to say at the end (of the trial) ‘oh we only had 100 people turn up and apply for the permit so there isn’t enough interest’.

“I think what they’re doing, in all honesty, is doing it in a way to discourage people on their horses so they can say there isn’t enough interest.

“If you’re going to trial something, make it a distance that people are going to want to actually ride.”

Ms Sanday acknowledged the track wasn’t very wide in parts, but said she was more than happy to dismount to go over bridges and work in with other people on the rail trail.

“I do understand not having horses in the big tunnels, not many would go through there anyway.

“I don’t mind if they have conditions, but to restrict it to that length is ridiculous, I don’t know how they came up with that length to start with.

“Other trail users always seem friendly and happy to see horses – I usually end up giving some kids a bit of a ride around too and it makes their day.”

She also said the Northern Rivers Rail Trail was advertised as equine friendly before it was built, but now she feels like that promise hasn’t been met.

“I feel as though it is one of those typical political stunts where they go, ‘vote for me’ and then they go we’ve got our signatures now we don’t need you.

“They included horses in the advertising and without the horse community it might not have gone ahead - they relied on the equestrian community here in the Northern Rivers because it is so big.

“Horse people were supposed to be included and we voted for it.”

Ms Sanday’s thoughts have been echoed by other Northern Rivers horse riders with local Facebook pages stating the length of the horseriding zone was a ‘joke’ and ‘2.2km is ridiculous.’

Other comments included ‘I’ve barely seen a horse on there.’

Tweed Shire Council’s manager of destination, communication and customer experience

Tiffany Stodart said

Ms Stodart said Council had met with horse riding representatives on several occasions to listen to their concerns, and as a result the 2.2km trial section had been designated for use under the 12-month trial period.

This allowed an opportunity for horse riders ‘to enjoy a 4.4km return journey’ along the trail, she said.

Council confirmed horse riders only had to apply for a permit once. They did not elaborate on whether they were trying to measure how often horse riders were using the trail.

But said in addition to gauging the equine community’s interest the permit would assist with compliance, insurance and contact information should there be any incidents.

No specific details have been disclosed on what Council plan to do with the horse zone once the year-long trial comes to an end.

A total of 52 horseriding permits have been applied for since the Tweed section of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail opened in March this year.

The Richmond Valley section (12 km) and Lismore section (16 km) of the Northern Rivers Rail trail will both be horse friendly.

I was talking to a family member who lives down near Sydney and told him that we had recently bought a whole range of car cleaning products, as we had lost all of ours in the flood.

His next words made me realise something.

He said, “It’s been over a year since the flood, and you haven’t washed the cars in all that time?”

I realised firstly, that no, we hadn’t washed the cars for a year (We haven’t had them that long). Well, we have hosed them down, but not given them a good wash.

Secondly, that people outside the ‘flood bubble’ may not understand what priorities we, who are still working on getting life back to normal, are placing on the items we buy.

In defence of my family member, he did ask where we were at with our work on the house, so he is aware of where we are at, just doesn’t understand that dirty cars were not a priority in the great scheme of things.

When we have to think about gyprock, cornices, flooring, tiling, kitchens, vanities, bathrooms, insulation, doors, electrical work and the list goes on, an extra layer of dust and dirt and a few cobwebs on the car kind of took a back seat.

This also reveals the fact that one of my most hated chores is car washing.

So we finally did get the car cleaning kit and hubby was all prepared to give our vehicles a good once over and then it rained.

Well, we have our lovely new garage door now, so it is easier to keep the cars under cover.

Little Steps