FARMERS from Bolgart have banded together with the Shire of Toodyay to fight back against the permanent closure of their local CBH receival site.
As reported in Farm Weekly last week, Bolgart growers were shattered to learn CBH had broken its commitment to re-open the receival site for next year's harvest, a move which would collectively cost farmers in the locality more than $500,000 per year.
While the town falls within the Shire of Victoria Plains, if the bin does close, many growers will be forced to deliver their grain to Avon and Meenaar and will have to use Toodyay roads to do so.
It's something growers have already been doing for two years and which the Shire of Toodyay tolerated temporarily while it believed the Bolgart bin would be repaired and re-opened for the 2023/24 harvest.
However, the Shire had to find out from local growers that it would no longer be the case and the site will be permanently closed, meaning between 400 and 700 additional heavy haulage truck movements on its road every year.
In an email sent by Shire of Toodyay chief executive officer Suzie Haslehurst to CBH, she called on the co-operative to keep the Bolgart bin open for at least five years.
According to Ms Haslehurst, they had received a significant number of complaints in the past two years about the increased traffic along the Bejoording/Irishtown Roads and Bindi Bindi Toodyay Road, both of which were not built to withstand heavy traffic.
"Bejoording residents have made several complaints to the Shire about the safety of school children, the deteriorating condition of the road and the speed of trucks travelling along Bejoording Road," Ms Haslehurst said.
READ MORE:
"The cost of maintaining this road has increased with no recompense to the Shire of Toodyay.
"The unsuitability of Irishtown Road means that trucks are not permitted to use the road during school bus times and must reduce their speed to less than 40 kilometres per hour after dark."
On the other hand, the Bindi Bindi-Toodyay Road directs 45 to 55 tonne trucks through the Toodyay townsite, which is a recognised heritage town with a number of well-preserved heritage buildings and cafes with alfresco dining serving a thriving tourism industry.
On top of that, the town also has an ageing population which require access to services in the main street precinct.
To discourage trucks from using Stirling Terrace, the main street of Toodyay, a temporary bypass was established several years ago.
However, this route passes through the town's residential area and contains several 90 degree bends making it difficult for larger vehicles to traverse.
In many cases, vehicles must cross into oncoming traffic to negotiate the bends.
Ms Haslehurst said while the Shire had been advocating with Main Roads WA for a safe, dedicated bypass, it was unlikely to happen for five to 10 years.
"The Shire of Toodyay strongly advocates for re-opening of the Bolgart bins by CBH for at least five years," she said.
"That would allow affected local governments to plan for and upgrade their road networks and in the Shire's case, lobby for the construction of a safe and appropriate heavy haulage route to bypass the Toodyay townsite."
Farm Weekly sent a series of questions to CBH regarding the Shire of Toodyay's concerns, however the co-operative would not comment on the matter.
For its part, the Shire of Victoria Plains was not informed of the decision directly by CBH until Monday morning.
Local farmers were also not giving up on the matter and met with representatives from CBH at the Bolgart Hotel last Friday to voice their frustration.
More than 20 growers attended the sit-down meeting and while they were appreciative that the co-operative took the time to have a conversation with them, ultimately they didn't learn anything new.
A spokesman for CBH said the co-operative would remain in contact with the group of growers from the meeting in the lead up to harvest.
"It was a productive meeting with growers directly relaying their concerns to CBH on the site's permanent closure and for CBH to discuss with growers the options available for harvest deliveries," the spokesman said.
Julian McGill, who has become the grower spokesman on the issue, said it was clear the operations team was simply following the Network Strategy, but he believed that strategy needed more fluidity to meet changing needs.
"There's not an agreement or a plan in the world which has never been amended or changed - if you go and get a home loan for 25 years, that loan changes to suit different circumstances - and that's what CBH needs to do," Mr McGill said.
"The board and the management team need to realise Bolgart is in a unique situation which doesn't fit into their current plan."
The Bolgart receival site is the first and closest bin to the port along the Miling train line.
Over the past 20 years, grain production along the line has increased exponentially and that is only going to keep going as farming practices and varieties improve.
"With the size of the State crop increasing and CBH focussed on getting more tonnes to port by rail, it just doesn't make sense to close a receival site on a Tier 2 line," Mr McGill said.
"There is no method to the madness whatsoever."