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Thursday, August 11, 2022
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Residents’ fury at flooding PAGE 13
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Tomingley to benefit from local development activity
Rural road woes shared at council roadshow
By SHARON BONTHUYS TOMINGLEY stands to benefit from the significant development activity taking place in the area as well as some proposed improvements, according to the Narromine Shire Council. With two service stations at an advanced stage of construction, Phil Johnston, Director, Community and Economic Development, told the Narromine Star that these projects are positive for Tomingley, providing the opportunity for employment during construction and in the long term once the service stations are open. “The facilities are expected to be widely used as a midpoint between Brisbane and Melbourne interstate traffic for both trucks and smaller vehicles,” he said. The Narromine Star has been privileged to get a birdseye view of one of the two service stations under construction. Kindly provided by Brian Shiells, site manager for Johns Lyng Commercial Builders, the photos show the United service station from the air. It is believed the facility should be open to the public in October 2022, weather permitting. Council has other planned improvements to the area, including the truckstop, Eric Woods Park, the local tennis court near the memorial hall, and the water fi ltration plant. Continued page 10
By SHARON BONTHUYS FRUSTRATED landholders shared their concerns about the state of rural roads and perceived inaction by council at a community consultation forum held at Trangie on August 4. Held as part of Narromine Shire Council’s review of its road management strategy, the Trangie forum was the second community consultation with local residents this month. Concerns raised by Trangie landholders included the funds spent on repairs and maintenance of roads, the closure of all unsealed roads in the shire following bad weather, grading practices that push soil to the side creating “banks” which allow water to collect in the the road after rain, the productivity of road work crews, the downgrading of roads, and the design of roads. Council’s Infrastructure and Engineering Services director Andre Pretorius addressed the attendees at Trangie and acknowledged their concerns. “These discussions and the results of the [council’s roads management] survey will help move towards solving some of the issues,” he said. Governed by ten separate pieces of legislation and funded from rate revenues and grants, managing LGA roads is a complex issue. And expensive!
Local landholders attend the Trangie presentation on August 4. PHOTO: NARROMINE STAR. Tony Quigley questioned what could be achieved when 60 per cent of the annual roads budget of $789,590 is spent on maintenance. A presentation slide suggested that “Council’s general funding strategy for roads is to use “rate-based” revenue for maintenance/operational activities and “grant-based” revenue for the construction of new roads and reconstruc-
tion programs.” Six grantbased funding sources listed included several NSW and federal grant programs targeting repairs and maintenance, disaster recovery and so on. There appears to be little money available for new projects. The issue of closing roads brought some passionate responses from the landholders. “If you close a road you’re
stopping a business from making a living,” said Duncan Howe. This was supported by Tony Quigley. “You’re transferring the cost [of road closures] back to business to bear,” he said. “The road is closed to 3.5 tonne vehicles but road trains are using it. Why?” said John Richardson. Continued page 2
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