About 6 weeks back Possum Valley had record floods. Not record rains and it wasn’t even a cyclone, the creek reached the highest levels I have seen in the 38 years I have been here and left mud and debris on the veranda of Blackbean Cottage. That has never happened before. The creek height is more sensitive to the intensity of the rain rather than the total as I live right at the top of a catchment area. “I reported this in my blog “Fixing Things”. Great, spellcheck has never heard of a blog. I have now fixed most things affected by the flood and just yesterday was hauling into position the bridge down at Blackbean Cottage when guests arrived. The task entailed crawling around and through the newly deposited soft organic debris, and in places I sunk up to my crutch. I hauled myself out of the swamp to do my duties as receptionist. I was not at my sartorial best. Anyone who knows me would recognise “my sartorial best” as an oxymoron. I was even worse than my usual dilapidated state. The driver stuck his hand out and and said “Graeme”. I looked down at my dripping hand, only moderately decorated with unidentified organic debris, and said “just come out of the creek”, giving him the option of withdrawing. But the obligation to shake hands is strong and he stoically replied “just so long as it hasn’t just come out of a cows bum” and we shook hands. How delightfully Australian. He didn’t mind a bit that I looked like the creature from the black lagoon as there is still respect for people who do hard manual work, and he defused any embarrassment with a crude comment.
Anyway, that isn’t what I meant to write about. The floods also damaged the road in. Stripped gravel, roughened the surface and dug some alarming gullies. It is a council road so I sought some emergency help from the council. There, I have finally got round to addressing the title. So I sent an e-mail to council with pictures I share with you.
“Hi long-suffering ‘report a problem’ person,
To help you get rid of this e-mail in the shortest possible time (do not press delete), it is concerning road maintenance in the Herberton shire.
Along with many in the shire, a few weekends ago I “enjoyed” the most intense rain I have seen in the 38 years I have been resident here. My hydro system was trashed, my water pump swept away a bridge demolished etc. Amongst the carnage, Pickles Road which is the only access to my property was severely gullied in several places. I am asking for some some assistance to make it trafficable. If asking isn’t enough, I begs. I run a B&B at the end of this road, and I fear that my guests may be slightly annoyed if their cars are damaged in the attempt to get here. It is quite possible if they lose a wheel into one of the gullies, they will be hopelessly stranded on the car’s belly. I attach a couple of pics. The scale is provided by a carpenter’s hammer.
The really challenging piece of road is only 70m long, but the gully meanders from side to side and therefore unavoidable. There are other sections that definitely require attention, but not an immediate threat to the destruction of cars.
It is a council road and a council responsibility, but I realise that like me, the council does not have long pockets. Probably, like me, the pockets they do have, are owned by the banks. Therefore I am asking for the minimum response to make the road trafficable. 1 truck, 1 driver, 1 day to deliver some loads of gravel to give my guests a sporting chance of being able to negotiate the road. If the driver makes some attempt to distribute the gravel, I have a little 17HP tractor with a 4 ft back blade that will make a heroic effort to shape and camber the road before his next delivery. Hopefully, he can roll and compact on the next delivery. With a little coordination, I think much may be achieved at minimal cost. I would have to know when he was coming, meet him to indicate the critical section, and frantically scrape up and down during his turn-around time.
Please forward this plaintive plea to the right person.”
With carpenter’s hammer as scale item
The council took a week to respond, but I received a reply assuring me that they would look into it as soon as they could. Hmmmm……… I think I know what that means. I guess an emergency response might be coming at about 2022. That is not a time. That is a date.
I have seen the council tearing up 500m of bitumen in Atherton that I had been driving over for decades without detecting a problem, then spending months of work with droves of machines and a phalanx of workers to put some different bitumen in its place.
For someone like me who has always strived for efficient use of resources in my personal life, this is hugely frustrating.
To my guests present and future, the road is still negotiable, but you will want to pick your way carefully. For those inconvenienced by the road, please contact http://www.trc.qld.gov.au/ and offer them your opinion. It is called Pickles Road in the Shire of Herberton.
Slight problem for low clearance vehicles
I have looked at trying to do something with the road myself, but there is simply not enough gravel to grade.
As for other services provided by the council I enjoy the use of the tip, but there is no collection service so I haul myself, and the use of the library. I have made weekly use of the library for over three decades now and I treasure this last bastion of a free service. There is no water/sewerage/electricity out in the rural areas. Nobody tends gardens or cuts grass anywhere near here. No swimming pools or parks, esplanade walks or kids playgrounds, public toilets or walking tracks, bike lanes or signage that the council might have to look after.
The only possible return for the substantial rates I pay would be the maintenance of the road. No other service (except for the library, only 60km round trip), is available to me.
There, I have had my whinge. Feeling much better now.
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