David Bott, David Pollard: Farmers paying to repair ‘dire’ road

Some croppers are dipping into their own pockets to fix damaged roads as they try to avoid a repeat of the dramas of last year’s harvest.

Croppers are dipping into their own pockets to repair banged up rural roads to avoid a repeat of the dramas encountered during harvest 12 months ago.

Massive spring floods fell across regional Victoria and southern NSW in the lead-up to harvest a year ago with crucial road links badly damaged at the worst time imaginable.

One of those areas hit hard was Coreen, north of Corowa, where David Bott said the condition of local unsealed roads remained below par.

It has led to him and other farmers in the area employing grader drivers to bring roads up to a usable condition.

Coreen farmer David Bott, right, and his father Bill at a Corowa sheep sale. Picture: Fiona Myers

He acknowledged state government funding to repair roads following the floods was dribbling out, but large parts of the road network were still in need of urgent attention.

“A lot of the grain has to get out of those arterials onto the main roads,” Mr Bott said.

“The extra cost is falling upon us. We’ve got to maintain them ourselves.

“We can’t wait indefinitely for roads to be fixed.

“We’re simply not prepared to allow governments to dictate our future business.

“If that’s extra cost we’ve just got to wear that.”

Teddywaddy farmer David Pollard on a section of the Calder Highway at Wycheproof. Picture: Rob Leeson.

David Pollard is preparing for harvest at Teddywaddy, north of Charlton, and fears any rain in coming weeks will undermine road patching work that has already taken place.

He said one spot on the Calder Highway near his farm had been patched five times.

“Continual patching with the amount of traffic on that road is just stupidity,” he said.

“The floods have brought it all to a head.

“They are just in dire need of major work.

“There was a bit of patching work done after the floods, but nothing since.”

David Pollard at badly damaged section of an unsealed road near Teddywaddy. Picture: Rob Leeson.

He is not as reliant on unsealed roads as much as others given his farm is on the Calder Highway.

But in predicting an “above average harvest” for the area he said there would be an inevitable impact on roads.

“The roads are going to get a fair pounding,” he said.

Mr Pollard is a Buloke Shire councillor, who is on leave presently.

He has an insight into roads as chairman of the Calder Highway Improvement Committee made up of councillors from outskirts of Melbourne to Mildura.