A petition from Mullumbimby industrial estate business owners will be tabled at the upcoming September 29 meeting, which calls on Council to upgrade pothole ridden Manns Road.
While staff say that two attempts at securing government funding under the Fixing Country Roads program have been unsuccessful, they propose ‘Council allocate a budget of $30,000 from the asphalt overlay program to resurface Manns Road’.
Additionally, they support funding the implementation of a one-way trial at Towers Drive and Smith Street, as requested by the business owners.
The petition from businesses reads, ‘The small to medium businesses located within the Mullumbimby industrial estate rely on this freight corridor to support and grow their businesses. In turn, this affects positive growth on the local and regional economies. The current state of Manns Road with its innumerable potholes and need for reconstruction is impacting the small businesses located within the estate. The condition of the road is poor, and poses a safety risk to vehicles (freight and other) and increases the operating costs to all businesses’.
‘Additionally, owing to the narrow corridor and limited parking along both Smith Street and Towers Drive, we propose a one-way clockwise circuit to improve safety, accident prevention and visibility’.
Director Infrastructure Services, Phil Holloway, wrote in reply that, ‘Council has previously applied twice for grant funding under the Fixing Country Roads program to upgrade and widen Manns Road, however, has been unsuccessful in both attempts’.
‘Council has a well-funded 2022/23 asphalt overlay program as well as a Fixing Local Roads grant for resurfacing streets in Mullumbimby. It is therefore proposed Manns Road be included in the Mullumbimby resurfacing projects this financial year.
One-way safety
‘The request for Towers Drive and Smith Street to become a one-way clockwise circuit to improve safety, accident prevention and visibility should be considered as part of the same project. It is therefore proposed that funding of $30,000 be allocated out of the asphalt overlay program either in accordance with part 3 of the staff recommendation or through the September Budget Review to design and implement a trial of the one-way circuit’.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
