WHEN it comes to the end of the road for Tamworth’s Peel Street there's plenty of confusion for the motoring public, for business, and for bureaucrats too. The point at where Peel St starts and Manilla Road ends is a clear cut road reality for locals but a moving traffic indicator for others.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"Confusion reigns," says Betty Halpin,"but only with everyone else."
"We know where we live but obviously a lot of other people don't," the long-time Tamworth resident says.
Mrs Halpin and her neighbours know exactly where they are - and that's in Peel St, although most of the rest of us seem to think they're on Manilla Road.
The debate has been highlighted in a high profile way over the past few months, and since the upgrade of various sections of Manilla Rd began. In conflicting reports, the stretch of road from north Tamworth to Oxley Vale has been known by both monikers. The latest news of the proposed $8.5 million project to upgrade the blocks from Manilla Road to Tribe and Jewry streets over the next two years has thrown the debate into high relief again.
"Ever since I moved here 20 years ago I get mail for Peel St, but I also get it for 87 Manilla Road too," Mrs Halpin said.
A friend next door suffers the same mix-ups, which also include people knocking on their doors, trying to find their way around the neighbourhood too. But Betty knows her geographical points, no question.
"I got my Tamworth map out again that I've had since I was a district nurse back before 1980, and it confirms everything," she said.
The delineation doesn't seem to faze others either, various websites have Manilla Road starting at Johnston St, at Tribe St, at the Marius St intersection, and even Yarmouth Parade.
“It didn't worry me when I first moved in; it does now ... it's become very annoying,” Mrs Halpin said.
Besides the written word, Mrs Halpin remembers the critical junction as being at the top of the hill that was on the top side, originally Pullman and Bettison the stock carriers, then Savage, also Hayes Transport and now McCulloch's transport. It had been before all of those businesses the supply section of the Manilla Road army camp. Right across the road there's the signed proof as well - the pole that points one way to Peel and the opposite to Manilla. And as Tamworth Regional Council geographic information systems confirm and a roads expert points out: "Peel St finishes at 1 Peel St, and Manilla Road starts at 1 Manilla Road.
“Funny as that sounds, it is actually true about the crest of the hill, between Conimbla Crescent and Yarmouth Parade."
