A PETITION calling for Tourist Drive 8, incorporating Bulga and Colling Road, to be changed from its local classification to a regional road, is being circulated to try and secure State and Federal funding for much needed repairs.
The T8 tourist drive is a promoted tourism route to the Bulga Plateau and natural attractions like Ellenborough Falls.
The infrastructure crisis at Greater Taree City Council has resulted in roads in the council area, including Tourist drive 8 to deteriorate over time.
Responding to a community member’s suggestion, TD8 Action Group has prepared a petition as a way of combining the voices of both tourists and residents in a call for State assistance.
The group believes from the current funding situation that all our local roads funded solely by council, are currently on a path of steady decline. They also realise that only roads classified as regional roads are buffered from this fate, by a quarterly ‘block grant’ payment from the State, given some hope of reasonable maintenance into the future.
The group has presented their petition to the public and has presented an argument by identifying the problem and suggesting an answer to the worsening roads.
It asserts that Greater Taree City Council has no funds to ensure roads are safe and appropriately maintained. Council’s backlog of infrastructure work is $200 million as of September 2011 and is expected to increase by $20 million each year.
The group believes unless additional funds are secured for our roads, they will continue to deteriorate and become increasingly unsafe for use by their families and friends, the school bus, the business community and local, interstate and international tourists.
The only solution it sees is to secure financial support from the State and Federal governments.
The State government gives annual funding to local councils to maintain roads classified as regional because of their significance.
Tourist Drive 8 is a heavily promoted tourist drive that provides access to the Ellenborough Falls and connects the Manning and Hastings Valleys yet much of it is classified as local road and therefore receives no assistance from the State.
“It makes no sense to increasingly promote tourism along roads that are steadily going backwards. Roads will soon become impassable and face closure,” member of TD8 Action group, Sandra Kwa said.
“The reclassification of the tourist drive back to regional status is a matter of equity. This route brings economic benefit to the whole state, yet the state government refuses to contribute towards it, leaving it to local ratepayers in a council identified as financially unsustainable.”
The criteria for classification as set down in the Roads and Maritime NSW Road Classification Review states a road may be a regional road if its primary function meets at least one of the six criteria.
The TD8 action group believes it meets four, in that it links smaller towns with the state road network, connects smaller towns with each other, provides access from the state road network to major recreation and tourist areas of state significance and provides access for significant flows of freight vehicle, in this case, logging and agriculture.
The TD8 Action Group encourages the public to sign the petition addressed to the speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales. The petition can be accessed at the Wingham Chronicle office, the Wingham library and the Manning River Times office in Taree.
TD8 Action Group says every name is another voice demanding a fair state government contribution towards the cost of maintaining this tourist route
Although the block grant, estimated by council to be worth $200,000 per year will hardly make a dent on the backlog, it will facilitate tourism which is beneficial for the economy locally and state-wide.
The TD8 action group and the community hope that residents, businesses and tourists will all be able to share this route more safely and comfortably.
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