Expensive rehab for Merriwa-Willow Tree Road

UPPER Hunter Shire Council General Manager Greg McDonald revealed the Merriwa-Willow Tree rehabilitation works may cost up to $15 million.

“Figures at this stage are fairly broad, we’re thinking somewhere between eight to $15 million is probably likely,” Mr. McDonald said.

“Council put $5 million into its budget, we will be seeking funding through various grant fund applications,” he said.

Council already spent $9.6 million worth of state and federal funding in the initial road project however, it is still hopeful about gaining further government grants.

“I think both tiers of government are acknowledging that something has to happen because the community can’t afford it, this local government area cant afford it,” Mr. McDonald said.

“It’s a really difficult thing for us to go to the government and ask for more money to fix something that should have been fixed the first time,” he said.

“Yes there’s a by-election happening at the moment, we’ve raised it with various candidates as a potential by-election promise,” he said.

“Sometimes the state government is after a confident number before they commit to it, so it’s sort of a dance between us and the state government until we get tenders finalised and have that confident number,” said Mr. McDonald.