Batlow residents have taken to social media to voice their concerns about vehicle movements – there could be as many as 60 an hour during peak construction – along the Green Hills access road and the narrow Lower Bago Road as HumeLink swings into action.
The main camp for HumeLink workers in the region is being built at the Green Hills Access Road, Kunama and when finished in the next three months – work started on Thursday – it will provide accommodation for up to 400 workers, plus offices, plant servicing, temporary storage of materials and equipment, and other amenities and parking.
Snowy Valleys Council and HumeLink West have agreed the bottom section of Lower Bago Road will be for light vehicle use only but the number of vehicles using it will increase dramatically.
The back entrance into the large site – and also its emergency access – will be on Lower Bago Road and that is where the most concern from residents currently lies because there are likely – according to the Environmental Impact Statement – to be as many as 40 heavy vehicle truck movements a day along that narrow country road.
The primary access is on Green Hill Access Road – and this will have significantly higher usage – 300 to 700 vehicles per day at construction peak
“It is a pleasant and pretty road to drive,” says SVC Mayor Julia Ham about Lower Bago Road. She uses it to get to Tumut, “but during the bushfires it was badly burnt, it’s narrow and in all honesty it’s not a great road,” she says.
There are three different sections of the road. The first section is close to Batlow, and that’s the emergency access point from the camp. The second section is forestry and that’s where the batching (concrete) plant will be. Concrete will be made and mixed, and will then need to be trucked to the construction sites. Concrete has to be delivered within the hour to ensure it does not set before getting to its destination.
One resident who brought the issue up on Facebook, said, “workers camp issues are many, such as the traffic issues, potable water source, sewerage, rubbish, and run off. That’s the tip of the iceberg. Being at the top of the Yaven Creek catchment potential issues could also affect downstream users”.
Another resident said, “so they said they would be using Green Hills Access Road as access, now it seems they are going to enter and exit the site on Lower Bago road which will be a disaster waiting to happen as it is not wide enough or up to standard.
“They think it is just an unused road but in reality it has a large volume of traffic on it including some log trucks which are not meant to use it either. The council are stupid if they let them use that road,” said the resident.
The Mayor pointed out Lower Bago will not be the worker’s entry and exit point – that is only approved for Green Hills Access Road.
Mayor Ham also joined the online conversation and said, “the council are aware and have discussed the Lower Bago Road repeatedly with them [Transgrid]. As you know, I use the road a lot. Keeping a very close eye on it.”
Cr Ham told the Times, “normally on that journey I would be lucky to see another car. That is the issue. Potentially, all of a sudden, you’re likely to see 20 to 30 truck movements a day. That’s the concern.”
The mayor says there will be traffic control organised by Transgrid when the truck movements start but she said she quite understood why residents were concerned and said the SVC had already placed traffic counters on all of the roads in the area so they could monitor the amount of extra traffic.
“We are very wary and that’s why we are doing the counts and keeping an eye on it” she said.
“We want the best outcome for Transgrid and also for the residents of the Snowy Valleys Council area,” said Mayor Ham.
“Clearly movements along this road are going to be impeded for locals. At the moment it takes me around an hour to get to Tumut, but I will have to add an extra 15 minutes on once all the truck movements start.”
“We will have Humelink in the area for two to three years, it’s not for ever,” Mayor Ham says.
“It is an inconvenience. It is one of the reasons why we are fighting so hard to have long lasting legacy programs.
“I would like to be able to say in five years’ time that while it was an impost we do have legacy programs and outcomes benefiting the community. There have been initial discussions. In February there will be public consultations run by HumeLink so all members of the community are able to have their say.”
Mayor Ham says she and other Council personnel are regularly in touch with HumeLink West and East operations. “Ultimately, we want a great outcome for everyone, for the project and for all the residents too,” says the Mayor.
“Council did push for the transmission lines to go underground,” she says, “and while we weren’t successful there, without Council’s and the local landholders’ input I think it would have gone through Batlow farmland so we had a win with the route changing to go through Greenhills State Forest. There are still many landholders affected. Individual negotiations with the HumeLink team are ongoing.”
Transgrid told us, “Transgrid and its delivery partners have been working closely with the SVC to reduce and mitigate any traffic impacts and disruption from construction for the HumeLink project.
“We would like to thank residents for their understanding, and we are committed to keeping them and the extended community updated on likely traffic impacts during construction.
“HumeLink is a nation-critical project and is expected to deliver more than $1 billion in net benefits for Australian consumers.”
