Many people dream of moving to a property for the peace and quiet of country life, but when the third biggest highway in the state is moved almost to your front door that dream soon turns into a nightmare.
This is exactly what happened to the McFadyen family of Trewilga Park when work started on the Trewilga realignment project 18 months ago. The Newell Highway was moved 100m closer to their house leaving them with no privacy, and with 2,800 vehicles passing on the highway per day, drastically increased noise levels.
“Our pool is in our front yard and my four teenage daughters no longer feel comfortable going for a swim,” said Phil McFadyen. “At night we have head beams shining into our house.” For his wife, Ronnie, the constant noise is a real problem as she is home schooling their children.
The family ‘welcomed’ Roads, Maritime and Freight Minister Melinda Pavey last Friday at the completion of the upgrade at Trewilga with a home-made banner reading: “Please help us Minister! We would like a fence!”
“We’ve been to every man,” said Phil of their endless battle to get compensation for the inconvenience. Making a direct appeal to the Minister and RMS Regional Director was one more step to ensure their side of the story is heard.
Phil said the RMS had offered them hay bales as an interim fence until the newly planted trees had grown, but they were not prepared to maintain or replace the bales over a five-year period.
Minister Pavey promised to go and have a look at their property “and we will come back to you,” she told the McFadyen couple.
By Maggi Barnard