The Regional Plan states that the Central Western region is home to the regional cities of Orange and Bathurst, as well as the dispersed regional centres of Lithgow, Mudgee and Parkes.

One of the key priorities of the Central Western Regional Plan is ‘to encourage more investment, innovation and diversification in agribusiness – one of the region’s key sectors.’ 

The Regional Plan states that ‘this means protecting productive agricultural lands and important environmental assets, maintaining healthy waterways and catchments and sustainably managing mineral and energy resources.’

The Regional Plan states that the significant drivers of change emerging for the regional economy include ‘increasing productivity in agriculture, including broad acre cropping, manufacturing of local agricultural produce and value adding and growing health and education sectors. Growth will be planned to manage competing land uses.’

Underpinning the plan is the need for an understanding of the environment and baseline data. This is highlighted as ‘the using of environmental value mapping of important agricultural land, the facilitation of the economic diversification of agribusiness and the use of resources sustainably so that they are available for future generations.’

The precautionary approach underlines ‘the need to avoid new development in areas of high environmental value and to provide better guidance to direct development away from sensitive areas’.

In building prosperity the plan is ‘to utilise resources  sustainably so that they are available for future generations’.

In locating new growth the plan is ‘to appropriately locate and service new development and integrate with the environment.’

If all of this is related back to the proposed rezoning of a very large area of over 200 hectares in the Huntley-Spring Hill area from environmental management and primary production to heavy industry and business the proposal defies the basic principles of the Regional Planning for the Central West and Orana.

All the way along our journey in addressing this proposal we have tried to work with Orange City Council and steer the proposed rezoning away from introducing heavy industrial development into the water catchment for Orange and away from the misuse of prime agricultural land, only to meet with speed bumps and a rocky road.

Blayney and Cabonne have resolved not to support the rezoning proposal put forward by the Orange City Council because of the value and vulnerability of the area and because there is plenty of vacant industrial land elsewhere in the region.

We have always said it is a regional approach that is required and it is essential to protect our most valuable resources, prime agricultural land and water resources.

These assets are insurmountably precious and must be protected at all costs. 

Thanks to those who contributed to the Central Western and Orana Regional Plan for recognising the value of our regional assets.

Let us hope we can work together to stop the industrial rezoning in the area, which is an area that is so critical to the well being of Orange and beyond in terms of water, agricultural and environmental importance and social significance.

ORANGE City Council have just ripped up Ophir Road from the bypass to the resource centre, added some extra grit to the base, rolled it out, sprayed some bitumen on top, spread some gravel on top of that and call it a road suitable to take 40 garbage trucks a day, all the heavy trucks taking loads to the centre, heavy trucks carrying skip bins, school buses and all the domestic vehicles from as far out as Ophir.

Then you have all the heavy trucks taking the rubbish to Molong, the recycled material and metal to Sydney, and green waste to Molong for processing, as nothing remains at the centre.

This would make it the most heavily trafficked domestic road in the city.

This type of road has in the past broken up continually and finished up more patches than road.

Why not use the heavy-duty hot-mix that they have used on streets in the city to take this heavy traffic load?

Ophir Road near Banjo Paterson Park was resurfaced without any preparation or fixing pot holes. Two months later and the pot holes have reappeared.

The pot hole repairers wander around Clifton Grove like lost sheep travelling the 10 kilometres to patch one hole but always leave at 3pm so they can be at the depot and clean up by knock off time.

Who schedules their work?

This is only a sample from one small section of Orange. What is happening elsewhere?

Council may be spending money on road works but is it been spent wisely?