We have great concerns with the proposed by-pass that it will have a profound effect on Parkes and of course, the residents and property that it will be going directly past.

As it is well documented that by-passes around small towns have a devastating effect on the businesses that rely on passing trade.

We know there are people out there that will say that those towns get over it, and eventually some do, but it takes years to do so. You only have to go to Holbrook and Yass, as examples, to see the affect it had on them. The last time we went into Yass, there were empty service stations, vacant blocks, a closed down motel and various empty shops in the Main Street. This was approximately 5 to 6 years and we haven’t been to Yass since.

The empty shops and vacant blocks equals job losses and down turn in business and economic growth.

So those people that say Parkes will get over it, we hope they can look at the people that lost their jobs or the businesses are under jeopardy and lifestyles down-graded and say ‘You’ll get over it”.  These are the people employed by the fast food outlets, caravan parks, motels, hotels, service stations and restaurants and the like or maybe they won’t have to “get over it” because they have moved elsewhere to look for employment. The loss of population which will affect school numbers and have a flow on affect to other businesses including Council and rates revenue. People might say the travellers will go into Parkes to get their food, toilet breaks, etc, but the big truck stop the other side of the railway line won’t need to be there anymore, they will move out to the bypass and create a service centre by encouraging fast food outlets to come on board – similar to Yass. Travellers won’t need to come into Parkes. It will make no difference if the by-pass is 500 metres from town or 5km from town, travellers won’t come into town as they will be catered for at the service centre quick and easy.

As for why we need a by-pass, the RMS and large freight companies are pushing for bigger capacity trucks to go up and down our highways, B-Triple road trains which will carry up to 80 to 90 tonnes or more. The reason why the industry wants these is to carry more freight will less vehicle movements. So with that in mind, we doubt very much they will support any inland rail. Railway crossing congestion will not change, the boom gates will still go down and stay down for the same amount of time, if you are a local waiting patiently, nothing will change.

The options proposed to upgrade the existing route, improve pedestrian safety, may mean widening a few crossings, a more friendly pedestrian railway bridge (still have to go over it even with the proposed by-pass). If the RMS is concerned with the cornering of the heavy vehicles at the corner of Mitchell and Clarinda Street, why not buy the old properties and vacant blocks and straighten the corner out? Put in a set of traffic lights in the heart of Bogan Street near the main shopping centre, these vehicles are only doing 50km/hr which is a safe speed. Forbes and Dubbo both have traffic lights on their section of the Newell Highway. Then explore the option of putting a bridge over the lower end of Bogan Street, a smaller bridge not double stacked high. I’m sure this option is far less expensive than the $50 million bypass – as we all know there will be budget blow outs. This money could be used to flood proof the Newell.

The RMS says there are another option in their flyer, a road further west of Parkes. They say it may be more expensive and have a greater impact on private property. We don’t see any large housing estates, golf courses or businesses further west. Only farmer’s paddocks, old TSR’s which could accommodate a four lane corridor and this will have lesser impact on private property. It will make no difference if it’s 500m or 5km out of town, the travellers will keep going because its human nature. The service centre or Forbes will be the big winners.

Of course there will be benefits to Parkes over the construction period, but a job this size will be done by a conglomerate that will bring a lot of their own workers and machinery, probably employ some local contractors and book out some motels and hotels, but this is only short term in the scheme of things. The bubble will burst and they will be gone.

There have been some supportive and some against  comments made by other members of the public or stockholders and obviously some of these people that have a vested interest, especially the ones that may benefit from financial gains when land is purchased or used. We are not sure if their comments should be considered credible.

We are sure we are not the only ratepayers/voters that will be greatly affected by the proposed by-pass, there are other people in Thomas Street, Moulden Street, Shallow Rush area that will be just as affected as us. They will be subject to all sorts of new impacts that will affect their lifestyles including property values, noise, pollutions and maybe even their jobs or financial security.

Each resident of Ballerdee Lane and London Road will all have personal concerns on how the by-pass may affect us, changes of access to property, utilities and travel to work, several of those residents who have businesses in town that rely on passing trade, so it is a double hit for them.

We would like someone from the RMS to organise a meeting with us and our neighbours, not just a call in to one of these drop-in sessions where our individuality is not considered. We are waiting for someone to come out to chat to us and give a bit of respect so we can convey our concerns to this potentially life changing event.

Dear Editor

I reiterate Mark Ross’ concerns in last week’s letters to the editor, outlining the negative effects of a Parkes by-pass road.  

I agree that there has been shown scant regard to Parkes residents in the proposals.

It seems that the decision has already been made that if there is to be a transport hub here, there should also be a by-pass road and stiff cheese to anybody who doesn’t like it. Perhaps there could be a solution, where all stakeholders (particularly the residents of Parkes) are catered for.

The problem as I see it is, that a by-pass road south of the hub is not necessary. Just look at all the roadworks of the Newell Highway around the hospital. One would wonder why such a wide road is needed if it’s only future was to carry some local folk to get some hardware.

I believe a significant infrastructure in the form of an overpass bridge over the rail line to feed the south end of the by-pass. It has been suggested that rail traffic would increase significantly so the residents would be further burdened by increased delays at the level crossing. It is sad to think that a life maybe in jeopardy when an ambulance heading to the hospital cannot get across the railway line, while at the same time non-spending tourists and noise-making monster trucks are whizzing across the railway on their own multi-million dollar structure.

Another consideration is the increased road traffic to Orange and beyond once the transport hub operates. What route will they take?  We all know the difficulty of the Newell/Grenfell St intersection now; how much worse will it be with an increase in turning traffic?

All would be lost if there was no alternative – but there is one as I have depicted on the diagram. The main features are:

Perhaps if we make enough noise about this, the people of Parkes might score well from the changes rather than being devastated by them.