It has the potential to be a dangerous white elephant and should be dropped in favour of other community assets offered by the NSW government through its regional recreational package.

While SGS, the expert engaged by both Goulburn Mulwaree and Upper Lachlan councils, is careful to qualify its findings, its assumptions and conclusions seem to have been made without first-hand knowledge of the area.

The extreme climate and windy nature of the Crookwell district make it unfriendly to cyclists. Even in favourable climatic conditions, none but the most hardy will venture on a 14-hour round trip from Sydney.

The estimated 30,000 visitors a year is totally implausible, especially given that in the last two years the number of cyclists in urban and regional NSW has fallen sharply. Only 25 per cent of people who ride a bicycle for up to five hours a week are women.

Using more realistic assumptions, SGS’s sensitivity analysis shows the benefit/cost ratio to be marginal. It also ignores the rail trail’s negative impacts.

Yet the proposed cycleway could cause enormous economic harm to farmers. Many paddocks will become uneconomic. Bio security will almost certainly be compromised by the cyclists, hikers, horse riders, campers and, possibly, dirt bikers who travel through the heart of productive farming land.

The spread of foot and mouth disease in Britain demonstrates what can happen when people roam freely along defined trails.

The Crookwell district enjoys a proud record of sound farming practices. Potato growers have a protected status. It is Johne’s Bovine Disease free. New regulations require the logging of all on-farm visitors. The indiscriminate passage of tourists across land which must also cater for stock crossings means this can’t happen. Once the area has a reputation for disease, the economic impact will last for years.

Add to this, the spread of noxious weeds, limitations to aerial crop spraying, significantly increased fire danger, and greater security and personal safety risks.

Significant acreage through which the proposed trail traverses was originally gifted to the NSW Government Railways by the then owners to be used as a rail corridor. Some of this land belongs to the same families and to now convert its uses, which may have potentially catastrophic consequences, is morally unthinkable.

Spending $20 million on a declining pastime, with related long-tail dangers, might indulge cycling elites, but for the majority it is a risk that shouldn’t be taken.

I was interested to see the article from the Commander’s Desk – Hume Local Area Command (LAC) urging drivers to check their car lights (GP, 30/6).

To follow that, I would like to see those same motorist actually use their lights.

So often in early fog or late gloom, so many cars are almost invisible because they don’t use their parking lights. A dark car on a dark road in half light is extremely dangerous.

Also, there seems to be a new breed of local motorists who don’t bother to use their indicator to show change of lane or turning, especially when they turn left.

Doing so shows consideration for other pedestrians and motorists and I am sure this is still a legal requirement. Hoping for change.

I refer to the letter from Mr O’Brien (GP, 5/7). Firstly I must congratulate Mr O’Brien for his service in the armed services. Mr O’Brien is, of course, entitled to his opinion, but he would have more credibility if his statements were accurate.

At no time (dating back to 2007) have members of the [Marulan] community stated that the project(s) should not proceed. The community group is pro-development and pro-employment. Our only concerns are that any development must be done with minimal impact on the community and with the maximum of safety. Our claim was that Gunlake [Quarry] should be held to the same standards as the other quarries in the area, which at the moment is not the case.

For instance those quarries send most of their product to Sydney via rail. The same facility is available to Gunlake, but they prefer to endanger the public, congest the roads and pollute the atmosphere. The costs of which are borne by the public! In addition, the quarries pay no royalties on the material they extract.

The remarks about the retirees are misinformed and irrelevant. The comment implies that these people are being indulged. Personal comments do not progress the debate. All people who live in the area are affected by being forced to use the route and share it with the heavy vehicles. Mr O’Brien makes no mention of the hazard to the school bus, which shares the route. The community has always been opposed to the building of Ambrose Road and we objected strongly to it in 2007.

It is unfortunate that the Planning Assessment Committee’s decision was overturned in a conciliation conference held behind closed doors. This decision is a short sighted solution to a project that has enough material for 90 years. It is a missed opportunity.

The community in general, and all those who use the Hume Highway as well, will be much worse off because of this decision.