By CAROLINE STRAINIG
THE Oxley Highway entrance to Port Macquarie may soon be tidied up and maintained on a regular basis – thanks to a letter to the editor of this newspaper and a subsequent campaign by the newspaper.
Roads and Maritime Services has confirmed that at a meeting on Friday 6 June, RMS staff met with Port Macquarie-Hastings Council staff.
“At that meeting RMS and council committed to share weed management along the Oxley Highway,” a spokesperson said. “Roads and Maritime will lead while a forward plan outlining responsibilities is developed.”
The relevant staff member from council was unavailable for comment earlier this week, so no further details were available. However, council’s media officer has promised a statement for next week’s issue.
Port Macquarie man Raymond McDonald, who wrote the original letter to the Independent published in the 20 March issue complaining about the unmaintained state of the Oxley Highway on the lead-in to Port Macquarie, was delighted at the news, although refusing to get too excited until he saw work start.
This was because there was a false start previously when RMS told the local member they would start a maintenance program, but then back-flipped because they worked out that maintenance of the Oxley Highway verges and roundabouts between the doughnut and Port Macquarie should be a shared with council.
“The two bodies getting together is really positive and hopefully we will get somewhere. We really need to – this is a disgrace,” Mr McDonald said.
“It’s not just the maintenance. The plants that they have planted on the doughnut and Wrights Road roundabout are just not suitable. That tussock grass and reeds need water and they leave lots of room for weeds to pop up.
“They need to look at landscaping them like council did the Sherwood Road roundabout, with a dense groundcover that prevents weeds and some higher-level shrubs.”
Mr McDonald said he had long been a believer in “little letters”, as had his father before him.
“I truly believe that a little letter and holding someone accountable will get you results,” he said.
The next issue he would like addressed is the lack of car parking in the Port Macquarie CBD.
Since that 20 March letter, the Independent has continued to revisit the weeds saga on a regular basis, asking for updates from RMS and council on progress and running stories every few weeks.
