Hans Lovejoy
The owner/manager of the Macadamia Castle in Knockrow has accused the NSW Road Maritime Service (RMS) of being a law unto themselves and that ‘repeated requests’ for a second meeting with the minister responsible, Nationals MP Duncan Gay, went ignored.
The Macadamia Castle lost its highway frontage after the new highway was recently opened and says that as a result, there has been an almost 40 per cent downturn in business.
Manager Tony Gilding told The Echonetdaily, ‘In February 2015, I said my worst fear was the highway opening but our signs were not ready, and that’s what actually happened.’
‘The signage plan was ready, but the signage was not when the highway opened. Permanent exits and ramps opened three months after the highway. We were promised a Hinterland Way Coolamon Scenic Drive information bay, but that is maybe years away.
Collateral damage
‘The RMS priority is getting the cornflakes from Brisbane to Melbourne in the fastest possible time and local communities are treated as collateral damage.
‘Dealing with the RMS is a nightmare. It takes months and months to get a meeting. Then we wait weeks and weeks for minutes. It’s an incredibly frustrating process – I have no trouble with the number of meetings, just the outcomes. I did not ask for more signs, I just wanted them clearer. There are no environmental or cost factors involved.’
Mr Gilding also says a request for a follow-up meeting with RMS minister Duncan Gay (Nationals) went unheeded.
‘We met once in March 2012, where he instructed the RMS to have the signage plan ready by 2013. It was completed in 2015. All the responses by mail were prepared by RMS and signed by the minister.’ Additionally, Mr Gilding says that promises made by Nationals MLC Ben Franklin have ‘already been broken by RMS.’
‘The RMS rely on Critical Infrastructure legislation, which says no matter what the issue, there is no court of appeal and the RMS are the judge and jury.
‘We will survive, but only owing to the support of local community. The Animal Park has done well, but fine food and nut sales are down.
‘That has a big knock-on effect to the local suppliers. Dollars coming in from interstate tourists are a real boost to our local economy, and it’s ironic that a NSW government institution is the biggest handbrake on maintaining and developing small-scale tourist business.’
RMS replies
A Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) spokesperson told The Echo that there had been discussions and face-to-face meetings with the business owner regularly since 2006, ‘with more than 220 interactions recorded in the past four years.’
‘Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight [Nationals MP Duncan Gay] has met the business owner and responded to more than 60 ministerial letters. Mr Ben Franklin, Nationals MLC and Don Page, former member for Ballina, have also met with the business owner. Changes were made to the permanent and temporary signage for the Macadamia Castle, and there are now nine separate, permanent signs providing motorists with information about the business from the upgraded corridor.’
Mr Gilding replied, ‘This is RMS speak. We have one sign from the north and one from the south. The other seven are direction signs once you leave the freeway to find us.’
The spokesperson continued, ‘It was clearly communicated that the project would be opened in stages and temporary signage would be installed during the interim.’
Mr Gilding replied that information was communicated a week before opening.
I find this typical of RMS treatment of local communities. Lismore is a major regional centre and yet there is no clear indication of the exit (at Hinterland Way) on the M1 as you travel south. There must be standards in RMS operations about signage on motorways – localities of a certain size or distance, for example, would naturally be included on major signs. Rumour has it that the problem is with Bangalow — if they want to argue about whether or not to be on a sign, that is their prerogative. How can this have anything to do with a sign on the M1 for Lismore? If the M1 can have a sign for Sydney at the northern border of NSW, they can certainly have sign for Lismore at Byron Bay.
Every business affected by the Pacific Highway Upgrade were informed, more than eight years ago, to expect up to a 60% downturn in business immediately after opening of bypassed sections. Business will return to pre-bypass levels within 5 years, and the early warning was too ensure proprietors planned for this.
His business is no longer on the highway, it is what it is. No other businesses get free directional signs to their locations. Either he aims up to maintain his existing business or sells up and moves on.
I have a business, on a soon to be bypassed section of the highway, and my plans are all in place for that day.
It’s much easier for this lot to sell off the Nth Rivers to overseas mining companies than worry about supporting local business….
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/overseas-sales-pitch-nsw-government-spruiks-coal-seam-gas-mining-to-the-world-20160510-goryko.html#ixzz48J9033BG
How many young workers have now lost their jobs?
The Castle employed a number of local high school students (and paid them a decent wage), as well as giving them great experience in a busy hospitality environment
Well actually I live in Coffs Harbour and I will go off the Highway when travelling north to support the Castle. I have been supporting them for as long as I can remember and will continue to do so.
Five minutes off the highway is a no brainer and the coffee, macadamia nuts, service etc is wonderful.