Back Brawling Road to receive a revamp thanks to funding

The road has been the subject of much discussion over recent years as the road is unsealed and contains two  sharp corners. It can be dangerous in the wet and has been the site of accidents in the past. 

It came to a head in December last year when Cootamundra Shire Councillors voted to approve a 15-lot subdivision on the northern and southern sides of Back Brawlin Road about two kilometres south of the Olympic Highway intersection.

The subdivision allows for lots with a minimum size of five hectares.

At the time of approval a number of councillors raised concerns about the state of the road and putting increased traffic. 

“The road is a problem and extra traffic will be a problem,” Cr Mary Donnelly said to council colleagues last December. 

“Is the road up to handling extra residents?” Cr Stephen Doidge questioned.

They were reassured that council would make fixing the road a priority so when Roads to Recovery funding was allocated this year, council stuck by this and set aside funding. 

Initially Back Brawlin Road was to receive $110,000 from the Roads to Recovery program however when council learned of a greater allocation it was directed to this important project. 

Temora Street will also be upgraded thanks to the ‘Town Roads’ portion of the funding with $55,000 going towards ‘rehabilitation’ of the well-used road which runs out to Stockinbingal. 

While any funding news for local roads is good news, proportionally Cootamundra Shire is receiving less than when the Roads to Recovery program started. 

In the first year of the program, 2009/10 council received $329,000 while this year they were allocated $326,000. 

Allowing for inflation this represents a decrease by 17.5 per cent over the five years of the program.

However councillors are not unhappy saying they are happy with the program. 

Across all councils the program is worth $2.1 billion to be used on local road infrastructure.