For people who live in and around Testers Hollow, the major funding announcement from the federal opposition on Saturday must have caused a wave of happiness.
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But while Labor’s $10 million funding pledge to flood-proof Cessnock Road would have been welcome to many Hunter residents, it’s important to remember that the battle is not yet over.
As things stand, Labor would need to be elected in order for the funding promise to become a reality, and given that the party needs to win 21 seats in order to form government, this will be no easy task.
Aside from this, Cessnock Road is controlled by the NSW government.
Federal candidate for Paterson Meryl Swanson was correct in today’s Mercury when she said a workable solution would require the state government to “get on board”.
So far, it’s been a difficult task to get that to happen – despite the fact that the road has been cut by floodwater for a period of a week on two occasions in the past 15 months.
While state Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison has been supportive of calls to raise the road, or flood-proof it in some way, she is part of the NSW opposition and does not control the purse strings of government.
Representatives from Maitland and Cessnock council want action, but the reality is that it’s not their job to carry the burden in this case.
All three levels of government need to be on the same page for a practical and timely solution to eventuate.
As Fairfax Media has reported in recent months, the flood issue at Testers Hollow has been on the public agenda for at least 89 years, with media archives containing newspaper reports of inundation as early as 1927.
So it’s time for a long-term solution.
Labor’s funding promise may not have the issue stitched up, but it shows that problems in the seat of Paterson are being heard.
With the retirement of Paterson MP Bob Baldwin, and the change to federal electorate boundaries earlier this year, the seat has gone from being conservative to being on a knife’s edge, with no incumbent.
As the government followed suit in recent weeks by offering a package for the contamination plagued residents of Williamtown shortly after Labor did so, hopefully the Coalition will offer its own contribution towards a solution to the Testers Hollow problem.
