Promises Made, Promises Broken
Just over nine months ago, I wrote an impassioned letter to this paper pleading for our Government Authorities to do something about the deplorable state of the Lachlan Valley Way and the now infamous Barton Highway.
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Like an expectant parent, in the nine months since, I, like thousands of others across the electorates concerned, have waited for a delivery of better roads to occur.
However, to be expected, the promises by both major political parties made prior to the general election have been broken and as predicted in my article such promises were just a sweetener to sway voters in the Federal election and no such delivery of upgraded roads has been forthcoming.
Since the time of my last article, not a single sod of dirt has been overturned to deliver the additional passing lanes on the Lachlan valley way or the Barton Highway.
Only minor maintenance has occurred.
Since June last year more accidents have occurred and the casualty rate continues to grow.
Agreed, some of these are through driver stupidity, but better roads with more passing lanes may avoid such driver impatience and risk.
Thankfully I am still not one of these casualties, but as I emphasised last year, it's a game of Russian roulette, and one day I fear the chamber will be loaded.
All of our political representatives, Angus Taylor for the Federal seat of Hume, Mike Kelly for Federal seat of Eden Monaro and Pru Goward in the State seat of Goulburn should be absolutely ashamed of themselves in continuing to ignore these pieces of road infrastructure.
Their inaction is pathetic and it is little wonder that voters portray most politicians as elected representatives who are merely in parliament to satisfy their own personal ambitions and greed.
They continue to talk the talk but fail to walk the walk.
Recently after an accident on the Barton Highway, I heard Mr Kelly on a local Canberra Radio station talking about the inaction of work done on the Barton Highway.
Hello, Mr Kelly, isn't it your role as an elected member to push the Government into action even though your party is not in Government.
This is your second time in parliament and perhaps you didn't realise why you lost your seat in 2013 but it was probably due to inaction by you as an elected representative.
It is also noted that recently the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has promised to deliver billions of dollars into developing NSW infrastructure.
Sadly though, it appears that the border of NSW appears to stop at Campbelltown in south, Gosford to the North and Penrith the West leaving the bubble of Sydney as the recipients of these funds.
When will those in power, including Premier Berejiklian, realise there is a world beyond Sydney?
Both the major federal political parties promised up to 100 million dollars to go towards the immediate upgrade of the Barton Highway at the last Federal election.
The question must now be asked, where these funds are.
The time of bickering between State and Federal bodies is done.
The time for surveys is done and the time for environmental planning and analysis is done.
If you don't act now more people's lives will be done.
Maybe my own.
Some readers may well think this column is an overreaction and I am first to agree that many of our roads both local and National need funding, however these two roads carry up to an estimated seventy Boorowa residents to Canberra for work each and every day as part of 12,000 vehicles that use the Barton Highway every day.
It's only a matter of time before one of these local travellers won’t come home because of the failure of our Government bodies to act.
Indeed potential buyers have been turned off settling in our town due to the state of these roads.
Is this the message we want to be sending prospective settlers to our region that will fill our schools, grow our businesses and the local economy.
What is hard to fathom for the average voter is that sooner or later these roads will need to be over hauled in a massive infrastructure project.
Is it not logical to start this now and minimise costs rather than upgrade and build these roads in ten or twenty years’ time when costs continue to sky rocket.
Perhaps a road toll on the Barton Highway may be the answer to reduce part of the costs, a user pay option, anything to get the ball rolling.
I only hope that in a further nine months I can write about the positive actions of our Governments.
I only hope the roads do not claim more fatalities.
I only hope I'm still here.
Phil Coggins
Clock fix needed
I notice that the local ANZAC Day Service this year has been bought forward 30 minutes.
I understand that this change of timing is to allow for the minute’s silence which is normally a part of the service to be done at 1100 hours.
I was under the impression that a minute’s silence at 1100 hours was normally carried out on the 11th day of the 11th month, Remembrance Day.
I hope that the War Memorial Town Clock is repaired in time to allow this change of timing to be properly recognised.
David Boardman
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