Sunraysia farmer Peter Corcoran annually grows 15,000 tons of potatoes on his Bannerton property. However, truck companies are refusing to service his property because of the state of Curran Road. Swan Hill Council says the access road qualifies for one annual grade, which it had last week. But while the state of Curran Road at Bannerton improved dramatically, Corcoran knows it will deteriorate quickly.
Corocoran said getting his produce out required “four to five trucks” a day, but the state of the road “makes it very difficult for my business to expand because people don’t want to come and pick up my produce. We’re not benefitting off council on this road by paying rates because nothing is being done. Just for me, what it costs to pay rates is 10 times what it costs to grade this road.”
He said he had informed the council many times, but his requests had fallen on deaf ears. Swan Hill Rural City Council director of infrastructure Svetla Petkova told abc.net.au that Curran Road was classified as an access road, qualifying for just one grade once a year. She said if there were issues and defects reported, roads were inspected, but upgrades could not be guaranteed.
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