Tara resident is outraged by region’s deteriorating roads

This Tara resident is outraged by the Western Downs’ unsealed and unsafe roads and says it’s only a matter of time before a serious accident occurs.

GRADING ON HIS NERVES: Tara’s David Parry is concerned the state of the region's unsealed roads is going to end in tragedy and is urging council to improve the frequency of their maintenance gradings. Picture: Kate McCormack

After living in Tara for almost 22 years, David Parry is convinced the roads across the Western Downs have never been in worse condition.

“It’s only a matter of time before we have a serious fatality take place out here,” he said.

“We have cars coming off the road all the time, people ending up in trees, fences and paddocks after losing control on these shoddy roads, it’s a wonder someone hasn’t died out here already with the condition they’re in,” he said.

Tara’s David Parry made several complaints to WDRC back in 2019 when it took several weeks for council to repair a leaking pipe on the side of Undulla Creek Road, causing thousands of gallons of Tara’s town water to go to waste. Picture: Kate McCormack, 2019

Mr Parry said since amalgamation in 2008 the condition of most of the unsealed roads across the region have greatly deteriorated.

“Prior to 2008 our roads were fully graded four times a year, now they are only done every 12 months with a bit of patch grading in between,” he said.

“Worse yet, council’s road workers just throw gravel down without using a water truck or roller so as soon as we get anywhere between 5-10mm of rain, it’s all washed away into the surrounding paddocks.”

A photo of a washed out hole along Gazzards Road from earlier this year. Mr Parry says the unsealed roads around Tara are dotted with washouts like this after just a few millimetres of rain. Picture: Contributed

Mr Parry said he had written to WDRC and tried to bring his concerns up with councillors and the mayor on several different occasions over the years only to be shut down.

“Council keep telling me these roads are up to par with their current standards and that the annual grading is in line with their maintenance strategy,” he said.

“But many of the residents around Tara and the rest of the downs are convinced this simply isn’t good enough and that more regular road work needs to be carried out before someone loses their life.”

David Parry from Tara is concerned the state of the region's unsealed roads is going to end in tragedy. Mr Parry’s wife is photographed standing in one of the washouts along Gazzard’s Road earlier this year. Picture: Contributed

A WDRC spokeswoman said council undertakes a comprehensive road maintenance and upgrade program and in 2021 and 2022 is delivering a $45.5 million program across the region to improve road infrastructure.

“In 2020 and 2021 council spent $11.6 million maintaining and improving roads in the Tara area alone,” the spokeswoman said.

“Western Downs Regional Council is home to the largest road network (7,668 kilometres) across Queensland, in addition the Western Downs region also contains approximately 1,800 kilometres of roads controlled by the State Government.

“Council has a consistent approach to all roads across the region and inspect and maintain these accordingly, irrespective of where the road is located in the region.”

David Parry back in 2019. Mr Parry said it only takes 5-10 millimetres of rainfall to wash the gravel off the unsealed roads because council’s workers don't use a water truck or roller to pack it down. Picture: Kate McCormack

Mr Parry said the problem wasn’t confined to the unsealed roads around Tara either.

“All of the smaller towns in the Western Downs are being neglected, all of the gravel roads around Dulacca and Pelican are bad – just about everywhere with gravel roads is being neglected,” he said.

“At a bare minimum, these roads need to be graded three times a year and additional culverts and water diversion systems need to be installed so that when we get a bit of rain, half the bloody road doesn’t end up washing onto someone’s paddock.”