$1.1M to fix black spots

Labor candidate for Bendigo, Lisa Chesters, and Member for McEwen, Rob Mitchell, at the corner of Egans Lane at the intersection of Dons Road and Three Chain Road, Newham, which has been awarded Black Spot funding.

Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, and Member for McEwen, Rob Mitchell, have welcomed the Federal Government's Budget allocation of $1,100,000 to fix three dangerous black spots in the Macedon Ranges.

The funding is the one significant cash injection from the Budget awarded to local projects.

The approved projects are:

· Three Chain Road, near Dons Road, at Newham: $814,000 to widen and seal the shoulder, install a skid-resistant seal, seal bellmouths and bus-bays, install a guardrail, line marking and signage and remove obscuring trees and vegetation;

· Romsey Road, near Mt Macedon to Hanging Rock Road, at Newham: $186,000 to widen and seal the shoulder, seal intersection approaches, remove an embankment and tree, install line marking and signage and complete drainage works.

· Burke & Wills Track, between Showlers Road and Wescott Lane, at Lancefield: $98,000 to install guardrail on all bends, improve signage, install curve advisory markers, and widen the seal on the western approach bend.

The projects were recommended by a panel of independent road safety experts and will be delivered during the course of the coming financial year (2013-14).

Mr Mitchell said since being elected in 2007, the Federal Labor Government has allocated over $8.2 million to fix 26 black spots across the McEwen electorate.

"This investment is helping to make our local roads safer for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, with 23 of these projects already completed," said Mr Mitchell.

"And the good thing about our Black Spot program is that anyone can suggest an intersection or section of road they believe should be considered for a safety upgrade.

"Nomination forms are available from my office. Alternatively, they can be downloaded from: www.nationbuildingprogram.gov.au."

Mr Albanese said a recent evaluation of the program found that fatal and casualty crashes are reduced at treated sites by 30 per cent, which translates to the saving of one life per year for every 84 projects. It also returns around $7.70 for every $1 invested by reducing the number and cost of crashes.

"That's why nationally we've doubled the program's funding to half a billion dollars - more than honouring all our election commitments."

Labor's candidate for Bendigo, Lisa Chesters, said the funding for works at Newham were a much-needed safety boost for roads in the local community.

Barfold's got a few secrets...

Valerie Hornbuckle

There's a secret life to lots of places around and about which a carload of people on their way to somewhere other would not even guess let alone stop to explore.

Barfold Hall is one such place. It sits as any well cared for little wooden building would beside the Kyneton-Redesdale Road not giving any hint of its past life. It's survived some of the fiercest bushfires the district has known, the latest was being on the edge of the roaring flames which whipped by it destroying countryside and homes nearby on Black Saturday 2009. But survival aside, this building didn't begin life as the Barfold Hall. It was originally the Emberton State School several miles away from where it now stands. When finished being used as a school, it was occupied by workers constructing the railway line, acted as a meeting place from time to time, and more. Then in 1894 it was purchased by the Mechanics' Institute Committee for the sum of 25 pounds and taken by bullock team to its present site in 1906.

There was also a railway line running through Barfold, although its existence is a little more obvious than the hall's past given that the raised up area the railway track went along can be seen parallel to the road in the paddocks. A station was at Barfold just nearby the hall on the Redesdale side, although it was more in the form of a hut rather than a grand structure we are familiar with in the towns of the district.

The railway did more than transport passengers. A true reflection of the agricultural life of the area, it was a means of getting stock to markets which leads us to another feature no longer seen in its full form beside the Barfold Hall. The remnants of stock yards (the first ones were constructed in the early 1890s) could be clearly seen there until recent days. Almost gone now, they were a major trading area for farmers in the district. Sheep came from far and wide, sometimes being walked over land for several days to the Barfold sales. When sold, sheep were often loaded up into stock trucks pulled by locomotives and chuffed down the line to major centres such as Newmarket in Melbourne.

The closure of the Kyneton to Redesdale rail line in 1954 meant the end of rail transport of fat lambs and other stock after the sales. They had to go by road. Stock sales at Barfold continued for about three years after the rail line closed, then after that stock was trucked to Kyneton, Newmarket or perhaps Bendigo for sale. And that was certainly the end of an era for the Barfold district, and indeed, the surrounds of the little hall. So next time you drive through Barfold, there are a few things to think about, aren't there?

(Thanks to the Kyneton Historical Society for allowing us to photograph the old pictures.)

 

The Barfold Hall today. It still looks very much as it did more than 100 years ago.

A relic from the past dating from the days when the surrounds of Barfold Hall were a hive of activity.

Remnants of the rail line can still be seen on a private property beside the hall.

Sheep were taken by truck from the yards when the rail line had closed. This photo is dated 1957.

 Fat lamb sale at Redesdale around 1956