Sheryl Lowe, Naracoorte Community News
The $2.1m Penola-Coonawarra Rail Trail project is shovel-ready, but the public may not be aware the trail will now pass through the middle of a working agriculture farm via a service road, due to a recent change in the route.
Peter and Elke Hocking bought the Glenroy property ‘Churinga Park’ 18 months ago. At the time of purchase, they were unaware of any plans for a change in the use of the road reserve.
Early in August 2021 they received a phone call from Wattle Range Council’s Project Manager Munivenkata Krishna SR, telling them Council planned to construct the rail trail on the road reserve which runs through their property and Council would require their assistance.
A letter dated August 5, 2021 followed, confirming that the 3-kilometre road reserve running through the middle of their property from the former railway line to Riddoch Highway, was going to become a bike/walking trail, splitting their property in half, and Council required a meeting with them on site.
They were aware of the road reserve when they bought the property, but it had historically been used to move cattle, farm machinery, deliver hay and fertilizer and to load and unload cattle at the loading yard via the service road entrance on Riddoch Highway.
“Stock and machinery movement via the road reserve has a long history of use by the previous owners, especially to access the cattle yards near the highway,” Mr Hocking told The News.
“B-doubles often access the road reserve to unload and load cattle, which will block the trail for users at those times.
The Hocking’s said they immediately pointed out their concerns to Council on the grounds of business disruption and the safety risk to the public using the trail, due to impending stock and machinery movements.
“Nobody cycling or walking would want to come across 200 head of cattle weighing 700kg each, being moved towards or past them. Whilst our cattle are generally quiet, they are still animals and can be unpredictable.”
“Some users of the trail, particularly tourists, may not be used to farm animals and our animals are certainly not used to large groups of people walking or cycling.
“At a recent on-site meeting, Council staff thought the shared use wouldn’t be a problem, however we strongly believe it will be unworkable and create a dangerous situation for both parties.”
Wattle Range Council called for Tenders for the Penola-Coonawarra Rail Trail specifying the trail would be from South Terrace Penola to the Penola Hundred-Line Road in Glenroy, on July 2nd 2021 with a closing date of July 30th 2021. There is no mention of the road reserve in the documentation.
“We were only informed, the trail would pass through our property in early August 2021, (The request for Tender was already closed) with no prior consultation (from Council) and despite our formal objection stating our concerns and alternate proposals being suggested, Council appears to be unwilling to compromise despite stating in their original correspondence” the following, “We (council) are keen on working with you to ensure that Council plans do not impact your operations and we realize a mutually beneficial outcome in this project.”
Mr. and Mrs. Hocking’s legal representative Mr. Peter Westley of Westley DiGiorgio Norcock, Wattle Range Council’s Project Manager Munivenkata Krishna SR along with other staff met with Mr. Hocking on the site of the proposed trail through his property on September 14, 2021 to discuss.
Mr. Westley has claimed he urged Council to consider alternative routes and that his letter be made available to all members when they (council) met for their September meeting that evening.
Mr. Westley also claimed the Council had advised him, they “did not wish to permit the co-use of the Proposed Rail Trail by pedestrians and bike riders, and motorized vehicles, (motorbikes, cars or trucks.)”
If confirmed, this would further disadvantage the Hocking’s operations as they could no longer use the service road for cartage on and off the property, or daily operational needs including the movement of farm machinery, cars and trucks.
The owners have been advised the rail trail will need to be fenced on each side with cattle-proof fencing, at their expense, and while the Hockings believe that according to The Act, Council is not responsible for the fencing, they feel the amount they are being asked to pay is unreasonable.
“Not only do we have these issues to contend with but Council is also requiring us to construct any necessary fencing along the road reserve which could total up to $50,000.”
“Will Council be slashing the road reserve when it will no longer be able to be grazed for fire prevention purposes?”
“We pay our taxes and rates like everyone else and whilst this is a government funded project, we believe that we are the only ratepayers along the trail that are required to contribute significant funds to the project for little or no direct benefit to us.”
Despite Mr. Westley and the Hocking’s requests to Council to consider alternatives, Wattle Range Council advised Mr. and Mrs. Hocking by letter dated September 20, 2021 that, “works are scheduled to commence on the project in the first week of October 2021 with the Contractor taking possession of the site.”
Mr. Hocking understands work is planned to begin at his property site on November 9, 2021.
He said, “the upcoming construction will be during our busiest time of the year with constant stock work including trucking in and out of livestock and fodder. Trying to navigate past the Contractor’s machinery will be challenging.”
In a letter to Wattle Range Council dated October 6th 2021, the Hockings again asked “Council to reconsider their decision to construct a walking trail and bike trail along the road reserve that traverses approximately 3 km through the middle of our property, Churinga Park, from the railway line to Riddoch Highway,” and suggested two alternatives which they believe will achieve the same trail objectives.
Their first and preferred option is to seal the railway corridor from Penola to the Penola-Hundred-Line Road as was specified by Wattle Range Council in the original tender process in July 2021. This option would create less impact on their daily business operations and would reduce the negative impact on the cattle through public disturbance.
The trail would continue alongside or along the Hundred-line Road (which has minimal traffic), then cross the Riddoch Highway and continue east along the Hundred-Line Road to the Glen-Roy Forest Reserve/Conservation Park, where it can join up with the Naracoorte caves trail and through the Father Woods Park.
This option would have zero impact on the Hocking’s operations and still achieve the trail’s objectives with little or no additional cost.
“This option is a safer one for the public as it crosses Riddoch Highway further along the highway from the Father Woods Park which is situated on a sweeping bend with poor visibility. Users of the trail will not all be locals who are familiar with the traffic flow, so an alternative crossing would be a better option for all.”
Another alternative the Hockings suggested was, instead of running the trail in front of their loading yards, it could be diverted behind the yards on the southern boundary and then continue down the road reserve to join up with the Terra Rossa road. This would mean the rail trail would travel along their boundary, rather than through the middle of the property.
They offered to provide Council with a license to use this portion of the land behind the yards in exchange for using the short section of road near the loading yards.
At a recent Council meeting a motion was moved by Cr Dale Price (seconded by Cr Neagle) to do a land exchange to divert the trail around the loading yards, but the Hockings will be expected to pay all of the associated costs to do this. At this stage they haven’t been provided with the amount which could run into thousands of dollars. Additionally, this proposal would still include the trail continuing through the middle of their property.
Mr Hocking welcomed Council’s decision to accept the alternative route around the cattle-loading yards, however “there is still much more to discuss.”
At the October Ordinary Meeting, Cr Dean Burrows requested discussion on Item 5.2/19.1 in the Minutes of September 14th Confidential Meeting, in relation to the Coonawarra Rail Trail tender process. Mayor Des Noll initially refused the councilor’s request due to the matter being ‘In Confidence’ but then asked the public and the media to leave the chambers so the matter could be discussed. These discussions were not made public.
Later in the same meeting, Cr Burrows said, “elected members have the right to make decisions however, it is always good to make decisions to meet as many of the community’s needs as possible.”
Cr Burrows moved that the correspondence from Peter and Elke Hocking dated 6 October 2021 regarding the Coonawarra Rail Trail be received and noted, it was seconded by Cr Neagle.
Cr Burrows sought to move a motion that elected members visit the site so they had a better understanding of the problems identified by the Hockings.
Mayor Noll said it wasn’t necessary to do so in his opinion as he had already visited the site. Cr Neagle said she too had visited the site. Cr Burrows Motion was lost.
The installation of additional gates to close off the trail while cattle and/or machinery moved across or along the trail was discussed by members at the October Ordinary meeting but Mr. Hocking said a walker, cyclist or someone on a gopher doesn’t want to come across gates blocking the trail and have to wait. The animal excrement and sticky black mud accumulating on the trail would cause problems and be unpleasant for the users.
If the Hockings are denied access across the rail trail at any time in the future, and because the road reserve travels the full length of their property, they will be forced to move cattle from paddock to paddock by driving them along Riddoch Highway, or carting them the few metres around the trail by truck.
Historically the creation of Rail Trails is promoted as a way of re-using the now dis-used railway lines for fitness opportunities and to link communities. Governments can obtain, use, lease or come to a mutual agreement with a property owner for this or similar projects if there are no reasonable alternatives. The Hockings believe they have demonstrated there are reasonable alternatives in this case.
Council moved a motion to enter into an agreement with Transformer Services Pty Ltd (trading as TFS Civil), for the construction of the Penola-Coonawarra Rail Trail on September 14th 2021, the details remain confidential.
The $2.1m project is funded by a $1.7m Federal Grant, with South Australian rate payers contributing $200,000 and Wattle Range Council rate payers contributing a further $200,000.
The Hockings can understand the health and tourism benefits of the trail to the community.
“We support the concept of the rail trail and are still hopeful at this late stage of working with Council to achieve a better and safer outcome for all”.
Wattle Range Council has been approached for comment.
This article appeared in Naracoorte Community News, 27 October 2021.
