Safety fear fate sealed

By Tania Martin
A GROUP of Macclesfield residents fear sealing their road could lead to senseless deaths on an already dangerous road.
This follows a move to have Paton and Mulhalls roads sealed under a $1.3 million special charge scheme.
The group from Mulhalls Road don’t want it sealed.
They believe it would cause more problems than it’s worth – including issues with road safety.
Resident Peter Steer fears the areas would be turned suburbia if the plan went ahead.
“It’s going to take away the country,” he said.
“I moved here from Woori Yallock because I was sick of the yahoos on tarmac roads, not to have it in my back yard.”
But shire spokeswoman Sarah Oldman said the road would be similar to the recently constructed Tschampions and Kennedy roads and would enhance the rural atmosphere, not detract from it.
Michael James believes sealing the road would lead to senseless deaths on the roads.
He said it was already dangerous with many blind corners making it hard to even turn from their driveways.
“I would hate to hear this time next year a loud bang one night to find someone has been killed … bent around a tree for something I am paying for,” Mr James said.
“You only have to look at Wellington Road and other areas around here to see the number of crosses on the roads and bunch of flowers where people have died.”
However, Ms Oldham said constructed roads provided a better and safer surface than dirt roads.
Mr James also raised concerns over the clearing of bushland near houses prior to the upcoming bushfires. He said spending money on clearing hazards would be a much better use of resources than making residents pay for a road they don’t want.
“You only have to Google Mulhalls Road and all you can see is bush leading up to the roads,” Mr James said.
“We are stuffed if there is a fire – we won’t be able to get out because there are so many bushes.”
“We are not saying they should cut down trees willy-nilly, but something needs to be done to make it cleaner,” Mr James said.
The residents have also questioned why they have to fork out a lump sum of $13,000 per property when the lion’s share of traffic would come from the trout farm on Paton Road. But Ms Oldman said traffic counts taken along the road didn’t indicate excessive volumes of traffic being generated by the trout farm.
However, she said as a commercial operation it would be charged appropriately.
The proposal has yet to go before the council for a final decision.