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Main Roads ignores its own low-cost option
Article by SASTR, Toodyay Herald, July 2023
As we reported in the June Herald, work is about to start on the major realignment of Toodyay Road in the vicinity of the intersections with Salt Valley Road and Sandplain Road. This will be the largest reconstruction project in the 27km Wheatbelt segment of Toodyay Road.
New road rides roughshod over biodiverse species
Article by SASTR, Toodyay Herald, June 2023
A section of Toodyay Road that adjoins the Salt Valley Road and Sandplain Road intersections is likely to be the next local area to be upgraded by Main Roads, probably at end of year. This section was last on their list, but we suspect budgetary constraints may mean Main Roads need to complete this section as they may not have funds to complete all works as originally planned.
Ancient trees safe but mature vegetation axed
MAIN Road WA (MRWA) representatives travelled to Toodyay last month to meet our members for a walk-through of major roadworks planned at the junction of Sandplain Road and Salt Valley Road. We estimate close to $50 million will be spent when works begin in 6-12 months.
Parliamentary petition rejected but we fight on
Article by SASTR, Toodyay Herald, April 2023
A petition signed by more than 5000 people to review planned alterations to Toodyay Road has been rejected by a WA State Parliamentary Committee. Safe and Scenic Toodyay Roads (SASTR) and local community members campaigned for two years for a sustainable and environmentally responsible road design that would incorporate improved safety measures. The petition spoke to concerns about the potential loss of wandoo trees up to 400 years old.
Road widening not the only way to save lives
Recent editions of The Toodyay Herald have been full of news about serious road accidents in our community which have included loss of life. These have impacted many people in our community as well as our economy. In an ideal world of limitless resources, we would spend as much as it takes to prevent such accidents.
State softens hard line on Toodyay roadworks
We welcome MRWA’s full-page advertisement in the December Herald about the resumption of road safety improvements along Toodyay Road. We may dispute some of what they said but communicating in this way is a big improvement on what happened just prior to the Jingaling Brook roadworks when nothing
was done to prepare the community for the massive clearing that occurred.
Roadworks ‘offsets’ no substitute
for destruction of biodiversity
Recent data shows Main Roads Western Australia (MRWA) and local shires are the
largest land clearers in the Wheatbelt. Around half the approved land clearing in
the past three years was for road developments and upgrades in an area that already has scant remaining native vegetation. MRWA is one of many organisations who claim “offsets” as equal compensation when applying for native vegetation clearance permits.
Show display sparks outrage over
planned roadworks destruction
Article by SASTR, Toodyay Herald, November 2022
A major complaint of the Safe and Scenic Toodyay Roads campaign has been the lack of detail and clarity provided by Main Roads WA about the impact of the planned improvements on the vegetation along the road and the resulting scenery.
Trees not valued in road costings
Article by SASTR, Toodyay Herald, October 2022
Planned changes to Toodyay Road have been in the pipeline for more than 20 years. In the view of a resident who lives close to the road, the current changes represent the third major planning exercise. A thick file of correspondence with
politicians, advisers and engineers shows what a costly and time-consuming exercise this has all been.
Main Roads slams door on further bid to save scenic route
Article by SASTR, Toodyay Herald, September 2022
Main Roads WA has rejected our request for major changes to save scenic parts of Toodyay Road and says there will be no further public consultation via its Community Reference Group (CRG).
Large-scale road clearing helps worsen fires, floods
Article by SASTR, Toodyay Herald, August 2022
Australia has lost more mammal species than any other continent on the planet, and our country’s rate of species decline is among the highest in the developed world. The State of The Environment report says this is mainly due to the introduction of new non-native species, large-scale land clearing and the ongoing destruction of natural habitat.
Roadside devastation sparks petition to Parliament; Long list of gripes mars Toodyay road upgrade; Letters.
Article & Letters, Toodyay Herald, February 2022
There’s a lot to read in the February 2021 edition of the Toodyay Herald. We even made page 1!
Main Roads says ‘exploring options’ to save two 400-year-old trees from axe
Article by Toodyay Herald, November 2021
TWO 400-year-old Toodyay trees listed for destruction on a flora-designated road have become the latest battleground for local environmentalists seeking to limit damage to native vegetation in ongoing upgrades to Toodyay Road.
The two large Powderbark Wandoos stand near the intersection of Toodyay Road and Salt Valley Road, about eight kilometres south of the Toodyay townsite…
Showgoers sign up to preserve nature & Safe & scenic roads
Article by SASTR, Toodyay Herald, November 2021
The Toodyay Agricultural show provided the opportunity for Safe and Scenic Toodyay Roads (SASTR) members to tell many people about the detrimental impact of the planned improvements to Toodyay Roads…
Low-cost option saves money lives & native flora
Article by SASTR, Toodyay Herald, October 2021
We have all heard about how Toodyay Road is supposedly one of the most dangersous roads in the Wheatbelt and the high Killed and Seriously Injured index (KSI) justifies the current road improvement program…
Backward Step
Letter from SASTR, Toodyay Herald, October 2021
We write to echo and amplify Helen Shanks’ letter in the August Herald. It is indeed a retrograde step for the broader Avon community including Toodyay to be redistributed into the electorate of Durack…
Avon Region must go it alone to conserve nature
Article by SASTR, Toodyay Herald, September 2021
In recent weeks we have been hearing more about the proposed diversion of Great Eastern Highway from the Clackline area heading north-west to cross and rejoin Toodyay Road afte.r Gidgegannup …
Clearing repudiates wildflower award
Article by SASTR, Toodyay Herald, August 2021
Unfortunately, it’s not just Main Roads WA (MRWA) we need to worry about. Last month, along Sandplain Road (pictured in the page banner above) a large amount of roadside vegetation was removed.
Wandoo Lament
Advertisement, Toodyay Herald, July 2021
A powerful poem about the beauty and significance of the mighty Powderbark Wandoo, by Greg Warburton.
Sentinel, guardian, Lord of the Trees,
You are four hundred years of history,
Centuries of drought, fire and storm,
No white man here when you were born,
Roots way down in the ancient laterite,
Immense your girth, lofty your height,
Your branches a refuge for zoology,
Under your bark an entire ecology,
Oxygen pumping from your crown,
Keeping the salt below the ground …
Less clearing can still fix road
Article by SASTR, Toodyay Herald, July 2021
Many community members are showing their support for alternative plans which will reduce Main Road WA’s extensive clearing footprint for their planned upgrade.
ABC Radio, Midwest & Wheatbelt Breakfast
Radio Interview
ABC Radio, Midwest and Wheatbelt Breakfast, May 2021
Interview with Bethan Lloyd, SASTR Committee Member.
Toodyay Road Improvements - But at What Cost?
Article by SASTR, Toodyay Herald, June 2021
The announcement that the planned upgrades to Toodyay Road have been funded by the Federal Government will be seen as good news by some in the community. Details of the funding are accompanied by all the usual claims of safer and improved public transport, reducing travel times etc. What’s not good about that one might ask?
MAIN ROADS SAYS CLEARING APPROVED
Article by Main Roads WA, Toodyay Herald, May 2021
The upgrade of Toodyay Road needs to cater for locals, commuter, tourist and heavy vehicle traffic. The key driver for this to work is to ensure that the staged development and construction continuously improves the safety performance for the growing traffic …
Hidden truck agenda
Letter by Bethan Lloyd, Toodyay Herald, May 2021
IF MAIN Roads WA recognised the environmental importance of Toodyay Road, why would it choose to put a 90m-wide, 11m-deep cut for several kilometres through beautiful Wandoo and Powderbark woodland around the Sandplain and Salt Valley Road intersections for an overtaking lane that could go elsewhere? …
Science ignored in alarming developments
Article by Doug Banford, Toodyay Herald, May 2021
There is an alarming trend developing in the Toodyay Shire regarding the level of technical expertise and lack of fundamental scientific data being put forward in support of applications for development projects …
memorial Hall display reveals road clearing havoc
Article by SASTR, Toodyay Herald, May 2021
To find out more about the Toodyay Road roadworks, visit the display in the Memorial Hall. The campaign for Safe & Scenic Toodyay Roads (SASTR) has made available higher-scale plans of the upgrades which have been provided by Main Roads WA …
More major roadworks delay Toodyay traffic
The Toodyay Herald
CONSTRUCTION has begun on a major re-alignment of Toodyay Road between Lovers Lane and Jingaling Brook Road.
MainRoads WA has built a sealed temporary 60km/h bypass around the construction area, which includes …
Corridor carnage
Letter by Greg Warburton, Toodyay Herald
It is curious that a public outcry and protest prevented the removal of two non-native trees on Anzac Avenue to allow for badly needed safety improvements but the annihilation of 100s of mature Wandoo, Jarrah and Marri trees at Jingaling Brook has caused hardly a murmur of objection…
Too much bush cleared
Article by SASTR, Toodyay Herald, March 2021
One of the pleasures of living in Toodyay is its proximity to Perth and that the relatively short journey to the city is through a beautiful combination of bush and farming country… There are few more beautiful spectacles than driving up from town at any time of year …
Main Roads Defends Large-Scale Tree-Clearing.
Article by Main Roads WA, Toodyay Herald
Main Roads WA response to SASTR article.
…
Excessive Clearing May Not Reduce Crashes
Article by SASTR, The Toodyay Herald
SASTR Article in Toodyay Herald
…
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