THE historic Bendemeer bridge will remain open to foot traffic, but the decision sparked a debate about how much council should spend on preserving the region’s heritage.
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Tamworth councillors voted on Tuesday night to give the Bendemeer High Level Bridge a $70,000 facelift.
Councillor James Treloar said while he was happy to support the move, he found it “amazing council had $70,000 to throw at a walkway over the Macdonald River, because it’s nice for our heritage”.
“The 35 residents who responded in Bendemeer equates to $70,000, isn’t that lovely?” Cr Treloar said.
“The sooner we get that second flood, the better, so we get the bridge demolished for nothing rather than $300,000.”
Mayor Col Murray said the council struggled to manage the assets it already used.
“We are looking at a five-to- 10-year window of satisfactory use with this $70,000 allocation,” Cr Murray said.
“It’s going to be a challenge for the councils of the future [to maintain]. I think at some stage we have to realise some of these assets do reach their use-by date.”
Cr Mark Rodda was quick to defend the “delightful” bridge, saying “heritage doesn’t come cheap”.
“Nobody said heritage doesn’t cost money to maintain – that’s just a reality,” he said.
“This is a problem historically with Tamworth city, we’ve knocked down too much heritage and now we’re trying to desperately hang onto what we’ve got left with the skin of our fingernails.”
Cr Phil Betts said the “beautiful bridge” was an “engineering icon”, but was fearful a major flood would knock it down.
“The only thing I’m concerned about is Bendemeer will have significant floods in the future – I’ve seen two in my time,” Cr Betts said.
Cr Tim Coates attended the community consultation meetings and said Bendermeer residents realised that over time, the bridge “would be a burden on the community”.
“There was a clear indication from the community of a willingness to undertake some of the work in relation to removing some of the non-native vegetation,” Cr Coates said
“The community was invigorated by this particular threat.
“The community spoke and I would be remiss of my duties by not listening to them.”
Cr Murray said the community should be congratulated for itscommitment in mitigating further flood risks threatening Bendemeer.
“The Macdonald River Restoration Group is also working to address further flood mitigation options by way of the removal of non-native vegetation from the river bed,” he said.
“The community support to maintain this historic site should be commended.”
