Tyalgum: The rural town left behind after 2022 floods

A landslide has severed the main road to a rural NSW village – jeopardising tourism businesses and hurting families paying twice the fuel costs to cart children to school.

A rural NSW village making a name for itself as a weekend getaway lost its main road into town in the latest floods.

A landslide wiped out the most direct route to the charming town which is set along the curve of the Oxley River with picturesque Mt Warning in the background.

The scenic drive to Tyalgum in the Tweed hinterland is normally just 20 minutes from Murwillumbah and about 45 minutes from the Gold Coast.

But travel time to get to the town has now almost tripled and there is no easy fix for the road.

Melinda Blofield with her three children Amelia, Jack and Isabel at a landslide on Tyalgum Road which has cut off the most direct route to Tyalgum since the March 2022 floods. Picture: Contributed

Not even a global pandemic could put a dampener on businesses who weathered that storm admirably.

But now the beer on tap has run dry with Tyalgum’s only pub sold — closed until next year at least — and other businesses are struggling to hold out for a tentative road reopening date in mid-2023.

Discover Tyalgum business owner Brad Sims said the entire village worked together to make the town extremely popular to the drive market but, since the Tyalgum Road landslide in March this year, the writing was on the wall for this beloved town.

The Tyalgum pub recently closed due to the recent traffic decline in town. Picture: Contributed

Mr Sims said the pub had not closed because of the landslide but it had been a contributing factor in reduced patronage.

“Despite many letters, no one from the council has visited the local village association since the landslide,” he said.

“The council has refused to have direct involvement, and we generally feel abandoned.

“There’s so much road works to fix, but instead of saying ‘we’re on your side’, they’ve pretended they can.”

Tweed Shire Council confirmed it had visited the town since the landslide and had directed focus to the alternate route on Numinbah Road.

More businesses are expected to close in Tyalgum if tourism doesn’t pick up. Picture: Contributed

Mr Sims is urging people to still visit the quaint country town and support local businesses but asked them to take care while driving on the less direct routes which could be more hazardous.

He noted recent road fatalities in the Tweed Hinterland, including the September tragedy on Numinbah Road.

“The traffic has tripled on Chillingham Road since the closure of Tyalgum Road,” Mr Sims said.

“Chillingham Road was in a state of poor repair. Tyalgum Road was the access to the large farming community.

“They’re not putting human need at the forefront of their response, tourists won‘t come until the road is fixed.

“Tweed Shire Council have prioritised the work that they can do quickly and cheaply.”

One resident, who has asked not to be named, said she would deter anyone from coming up to Tyalgum because of the unsafe, crash and flood-prone conditions on Chillingham Road.

Residents are reporting a 17-minute drive to Murwillumbah is now double the time, if not triple – with 30 to 40 minutes of travel time added on.

Mother of three Malinda Blofield lives on the Tyalgum side of the cracked road, separated from her parents in Eungella.

The Blofields work in Murwillumbah where two of their children attend school while one child goes to preschool at Tyalgum – which has resulted in unprecedented challenges for the family.

“We relied on our parents for preschool pick-up and to meet the school bus (but) that basic task has become impossible as driving the long way around is ridiculous and unsafe,” Ms Blofield said.

Melinda Blofield with her three children Jack, Isabel and Amelia at the Tyalgum Road landslide.

“Our children no longer participate in after-school sports as having to drive out to collect our toddler and then drive back into Murwillumbah is not only mentally draining but financially impossible.”

“If the cost of living wasn’t bad enough, now having to use double the amount of fuel and not to mention the overall wear and tear on the car has really hit the pocket hard”.

In a written statement, Tweed Shire Council said it had decided to proceed with a “permanent repair” of the road rather than putting in a temporary fix.

“The road slip at Tyalgum is the largest and most complicated item on Council’s Flood recovery roads list,” it read.

“The complexities, time and cost of designing and constructing a safe temporary solution is almost as significant as a permanent fix; and would divert limited resources from the task of permanently fixing the roadway.”

The council said Transport for NSW had approved funding to cover the road repair costs.