MEMBER for New England Barnaby Joyce said federal funding worth $1.5 million for the construction of a roundabout on the intersection of the Tingha and Glen Innes roads was “in the bag”, when he made the announcement on Wednesday afternoon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
“Obviously, there’s further money that the council will put in and money from the state as well,” he said.
“There’ll probably need to be another $1 million needed from state government and council and they’ll speak for themselves, but this is what they’ve asked for and this is what we’ve delivered.”
“I think it’s important to work with three tiers of government, and rather than try to second guess what people want, you deliver what councils have been fighting for and try and work with them.”
Mayor Paul Harmon said the funding was hugely important for the community.
“This bottleneck has been an issue for a number of years and is only getting busier and busier,” Cr Harmon said.
“We’ve just seen the upgrade (Emus Crossing and Abington bridges) of bridges on Thunderbolt’s Way that were pinch points for freight movement, and we’ve got another pinch point here at this intersection.”
This bottleneck has been an issue for a number of years and is only getting busier and busier.
- Paul Harmon
Cr Harmon said council would contribute $1 million to the project.
“Then we’ll be chewing Adam Marshall’s ear for the other $500,000,” he said.
Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall said he had not yet been approached by council about state funding, and thinks the amount of funding being brought into Inverell reflected the amount of growth in this centre.
More than $22 million in additional funding has been attracted to the shire by council during the last four years. This latest announcement takes that figure to about $24 million, with another $30 million yet to be spent on the hospital.
“Inverell is a growing community, it’s vibrant, there are a lot of needs, a lot of activity and it’s great to see that there has been that level of investment in a lot of infrastructure and in the community,” Mr Marshall said.
“I think that’s also a tribute to the community for being so pro-active in chasing that down.”