The Shadow Minister for Regional Transport and Roads has condemned the government’s delay in their 2019 election commitment to regional roads, who are far from achieving the 15,000 kilometres they proposed to transfer to state ownership. 

The Regional Roads Transfer and Road Condition Review was a key election commitment for regional roads from the Nationals in 2019, yet the 2021 interim report proposed the transfer of just 391 kilometres of local roads, and a reclassification of 353.7 kilometres. 

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway didn’t inspire any further confidence during his appearance at the state budget estimates, where he failed to give a deadline or final budget for the review. 

Shadow Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison said the Minister had failed regional people on the reclassification, 

“The Minister confirmed the panel will not report until at least the third quarter of 2022, and he couldn’t give any information about how and when the allocated $250 million will be spent, what that would cover, or whether it would be enough.” 

The lack of road transfers, which would see the state takeover maintenance and upgrades from council, has also disappointed state councils. 

Former Local Government NSW (LGNSW) President Linda Scott said at the time of the interim report’s release that the proposal of less than three per cent of the original promise was a ‘massive disappointment’.

“Almost 120 councils across NSW applied for priority road takebacks, but only five applications - representing just over 391 kilometres of road - met the Government’s criteria,” Ms Scott said. 

“This falls woefully short of what we were hoping for,” Ms Scott said. 

A year later, there is little evidence of any further progress. 

“Given the Deputy Premier and former Minister took seven months to read the interim priority report, and this full report will be based on over 500 submissions, we still don’t know when the reclassifications and transfers will be approved, when they will actually take place, and if the government has even allocated enough to cover the cost,” Ms Aitchison said.  

The Former Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole announced the $250 million in last year’s budget towards the project, which would cover the cost of around 1000 kilometres of sealing roads. 

“The community also expects that when a regional road is transferred to the State’s ownership, it should be upgraded to the appropriate standard, which is why we allocated $250 million…towards upgrading transferred roads, and we’ll be getting on with that in the coming months,” Mr Toole announced late last year. 

The allocation of the funds remains to be seen. 

In Budget Estimates, Mr Farraway attributed the slow progress to interruptions. 

“We have had COVID, we have had flooding, we have had bushfires…all of this is a huge task. We are going to take a very measured approach to this,” Mr Farraway said. 

He said he expects the next report to be delivered in the third quarter of 2022, but was hesitant to guarantee any transfer work beginning this year.

"This is a large undertaking and one that the Government will deliver in a measured and responsible way, being led by evidence and considered by experts. Unlike when these roads were dumped on unsuspecting or unprepared councils by Labor," Mr Farraway said.

Submissions were extended at the request of councils who were facing significant impact due to COVID-19 and then flooding. The full round of submissions closed on 28 February.