Jun
No Government Infrastructure Spending Considerations to Protect Retail Jobs
Is our Government cutting existing projects whilst they skite about new projects?
After spending billions this year for little result, that future generation will have to repay, our Governments have started to talk a lot about spending money on infrastructure projects to create jobs. However it seems thay have no interest in protecting small business with existing committed infrastructure projects and are actually cutting them back.
A case in point is the the RTA’s new announcement that they have deleted the Ivy Lane exit from the Tintenbar to Ewingsdale Pacific Highway upgrade. This exit was to have been the major access to the famous Macadamia Castle from the Highway.
Under the new plan it would now be necessary for travellers from the North to exit 16 KM before the highway or backtrack 8km to visit the Castle. From the South visitors will have to exit at Ross Lane, travel 4km to the Castle and then continue on 13Km to rejoin the Highway. ( Yeah Right!)
This will have major detrimental effects on the Macadamia Castle and threatens its very existence. Macadamia Castle hopes to survive but may have to make drastic cuts to staff and infrastructure spending
The Macadamia Castle has become a landmark and well known place of interest to visit for people using the current highway.
As a major Retail business, Macadamia Castle at Knockrow is the area’s largest employer and a major purchaser of local goods. Each month over $200,000 is spent on local wages, produce and services. The business is 35 years old. The Castle is a major trainer of local youth in conjunction with TAFE. It provides a safe meeting place for Mums with young kids.
The Animal Park and is a destination for many school groups and holiday care programmes. It is a showcase for local products stocking over 200 local food items. Its Café is a showcase for regional Cuisine.
Tony Gilding of the Macadamia Castle had the following to say about the RTA:-
“Despite the smooth words in the RTA documents :-
- The RTA has conducted no economic analysis of the impact on the Macadamia Castle.
- The RTA has made no predictions about the traffic flow that will result from these changes. In particular the issue of how residents and visitors from the North travelling to the South of Byron such as Suffolk Park will exit the highway. The RTA’s suggestion that many of them will exit at Ewingsdale and travel through Byron Bay town would put pressure on already crowded Byron CBD.
- There is no compensation offered.
- There are vague indications of tourist routes and signage but no specifics.”
So how about spending the original planned infrastructure budget in this case where there is a clear and measurable impact and stop pretending its all new infrustructure spending.
