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.
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