FARMERS have issued a fresh call to fix regional roads as new mapping reveals the extent of damage to country roads.
NSW Farmers’ Business Economics and Trade Committee member Andrew Martel said the release of the Australian Road Assessment Program’s New South Wales map this week should come as a wake-up call to all governments following years of flood damage and a lack of maintenance to the road network.
“The map shows that no matter where you are in the state, everyone’s got a road or bridge that has been allowed to fall into a dangerous state,” Mr Martel said.
“Besides the danger, these roads are a drain on productivity for agriculture and indeed all industry and business, adding to the cost of living and slowing growth in regional areas.
“All extra damage to vehicles from these roads also costs money and lowers productivity.”
Urgent funding from local state and federal government was needed to get NSW’s roads and bridges back on track, Mr Martel warned, as road users continued to see conditions deteriorate.
“This map doesn’t even include local council roads, which are in an even worse state and require urgent extra funding through increased funding for Financial Assistance Grants,” Mr Martel said.
“The value of this funding has been allowed to slip, but needs to be restored to the original level of 1 per cent of Commonwealth revenue to enable these road repairs.
“Safe roads doesn’t just mean safe families – it means stronger productivity that will enable us to keep improving and repairing our roads as we see fit.”
