Upper Lachlan Shire Council 'neglecting' Taralga: Resident

Terry Bennett has rallied residents on several occasions to mow and tidy up public facilities ahead of major events.

On the weekend before Australia Day, volunteers prepared Gray Park to host proceedings which included a car show and fundraiser for 11-year-old Beau Cosgrove. They also mowed large parts of the town, trimmed edges, shifted gravel piled up from rain and cleaned silted up gutters.

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Mr Bennett said he had emailed the council well before, asking for the town to be tidied in the knowledge that Wheelchair Sports ACT/NSW would be filming and feeding footage of a wheelchair race to Channel 7's Sunrise program.

"I told the council it was a disgrace. The grass was three foot high in the park and it was embarrassing," Mr Bennett told The Post.

"They replied four or five days later and said they might come on the Monday but there were no assurances.

"We had to do it by push mower (due to the wet ground) but why can't they do it?...They don't seem to do anything. We've been feeling neglected for months."

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Mr Bennett said everyone understood it had been a wet year but had also been told by council workers that crews were "under-staffed." He was not blaming them but the council hierarchy.

The council's general manager Colleen Worthy has rejected the claims, saying that on the Friday before Australia Day the town was offered a works team for the following Monday and Tuesday.

"They didn't want to wait and the community mowed it," she said.

"That was very good and it allowed our team to concentrate on getting Goodhew Park (in the main street) open for Australia Day as well. It had been smashed by a storm and we had to take out all the playground soft fall and replace it. The park was open and looking beautiful for Australia Day."

The GM said the teams were allocated to Gray Park but if the community wanted to contribute at a time when the council couldn't keep control of rapid grass growth, then this was appreciated.

In addition, crews couldn't get ride-on mowers and machinery into saturated grounds without damaging the surface.

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However the council was trying to prioritise work. Mrs Worthy said a team was sent to Stonequarry Cemetery earlier last week ahead of a funeral on Wednesday to mow. This was another case where residents had pitched in to mow after the community, fearing the council wouldn't respond, had called for helpers.

The Taralga Progress Association will discuss the level of council service at a meeting on Thursday. President Don McKay said people were concerned but the Association wanted to work with the council to find a solution.

"We don't want it to turn into a council bashing exercise," he said.

"There are a number of issues the Progress Association can get into that are more important, such as Taralga's future water supply."

Mr McKay, a former town planner, also believed longstanding drainage problems at Goodhew Park were not a "quick fix" and only prolonged fine weather would allow proper investigation.

Mr Bennett, the owner of Taralga Earth Trembler, has also complained about a 40-metre concrete drain the council constructed beside Court Street, next to the park. Over the past four months, heavy rain has scoured 30 to 40cm deep holes either side of the drain.

"If I left something in that state, I'd be sued," he said.

"I've been asking for a barricade around it for the past three to four months because a car could easily go into it. People pull up beside the park and use the Court Street entry to use the toilets."

Another 60cm hole sits beside guide posts in the street.

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Mr Bennett told The Post that rain in December and January had washed masses of gravel down Court Street and into the main thoroughfare. Again, he had asked Upper Lachlan Council to clear this but said it sat there for three weeks. He and another resident removed several truckloads of the material on the weekend before Australia Day.

At the same time, a nearby homeowner received an email from the council advising him that he had to clear a patch of loose gravel from the front of his house within 28 days.

Mrs Worthy acknowledged the sides of the drain should have been sealed better but rocks and support would be installed.

"It's on the priority list, it is logged and the work will be done," she said.

The council received disaster funding again after heavy rain in early January.

Mr Bennett has also highlighted "dangerous" potholes on the Goulburn to Taralga Road, at and beyond Tarlo hill. Motorists have told The Post that a deep one outside the Gordonvale homestead, 25km from Goulburn, has been there for three to four months. Mr Bennett claimed two young drivers almost rolled their car after striking it last week.

Another is located about 28km from Goulburn on a bend where motorists reported having no other option than to hit the pothole due to oncoming cars.

Other deep ones had developed on the Wombeyan Caves and Oberon Roads, Mr Bennett said.

Mrs Worthy told The Post that fixing the potholes had been a constant job with all the rain.

"We are working steadfastly with all our villages and prioritising according to greatest need," she said.

"If your pothole is less than that pothole then that one over there is getting (repaired) especially if there are more people driving over it."

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The GM stressed that the Shire had spent $69 million on roads in the past five years, much of this in the northeast sector. With 7500km of roads to manage, the council had to utilise its "small rate base, teams and budget" as best it could.

"I find it offensive to say that we give all our resources to one area. If we look at our dollars across the whole area, it's a pretty even spread per head of population," Mrs Worthy said.

The council is however looking to establish an office presence one day a month in the Taralga and Gunning.

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