Mr PETER DRAPER (Tamworth) [12.43 p.m.]: It is of great concern that I must again speak on behalf of school bus and truck operators in the Barraba district regarding an issue we believed was resolved in August last year. However, yet again a question mark is hanging over the future of the Roads and Traffic Authority's Heavy Vehicle Inspection Scheme in the town.
In May last year I wrote to the Minister for Roads, the Hon. Eric Roozendaal, regarding a decision by the Roads and Traffic Authority to cancel inspections in Barraba. A response from the Minister in July 2006 stated:
I am further advised that the Barraba inspection site possesses basic inspection facilities and will remain as a HVIS inspection site. Should an alternative inspection site with improved facilities and equipment in the area become available, Barraba inspection site will be reviewed.
I fast forward to November 2007 and my recent meeting in Barraba with the local bus operators. When they tried to make bookings for 2008 Tamworth Roads and Traffic Authority office informed them the Barraba facility's ongoing operation was again under review. One bus operator rang the Tamworth office on 9 September to book an inspection anytime during November, right through until 26 January 2008, when his vehicle registration is due. He was told that the only available date in 2007 was fully booked and that no further bookings were being taken for the Barraba site in 2008. A further letter from Minister Roozendaal in August 2006, stated:
HVIS inspections must be conducted within a three month period prior to the registration renewal date. To allow operators a reasonable time to arrange inspections, bookings can be made up to 6 months in advance. The RTA also monitors bookings, and can open additional time slots if there is increased demand for inspections.
The situation being experienced by heavy vehicle operators in Barraba and the information I have received from the Minister are in direct conflict. Barraba residents are now questioning whether the Roads and Traffic Authority is trying to close this vitally important service by stealth, while at the same time providing the Minister with misleading information. Previously the Barraba service was open for three days in every three months, giving local bus and truck owners 12 days a year to have their vehicles inspected in the town. Currently the authority has reduced the service to one day every two months, or only six days per year. Naturally it is much harder to secure a booking.
The Government must carefully consider the consequences of closing this service in Barraba, especially the inconvenience and additional costs for heavy vehicle operators from across the Barraba district. It is nearly 200 kilometres from Barraba to Tamworth and back. If the 11 Barraba school buses are forced to travel to Tamworth for inspections this will involve 22 trips per year. If we add to this the many local trucks needing to make the journey we see that the result is a large number of unnecessary heavy vehicle movements, increasing the wear and tear on what is already a very busy local road. Surely it makes more sense to have two inspectors jump in a ute, travel to Barraba and provide the service rather than to have large numbers of heavy vehicles on the road increasing risks to other road users.
Economic consequences must also be considered because a driver is required for at least three hours to travel to Tamworth and back, at a cost of more than $110. In addition, fuel costs around $90 and there is unnecessary wear and tear on the vehicle. And they still have to pay an inspection fee of $100. These bus operators are single-vehicle owner-operators who all have other jobs or activities between runs, causing a further loss of income. Any inspection in Tamworth must be carried out between the morning and afternoon school runs. The Roads and Traffic Authority insists that the buses must be clean inside and out, including under the body, and this is virtually impossible to achieve when the vehicles must travel nearly 100 kilometres from the home base after completing the morning run and be back in time for the afternoon run.
Because the operators' depots and mechanics are in Barraba, if a vehicle is found to be defective in Tamworth there is no opportunity for the owner to have the problem fixed and return to the inspection site to have the defect notice lifted on the same day. Not being from Tamworth, these operators do not have a relationship with the city's mechanical repairers, making it extremely difficult for them to get rapid assistance. These people give priority to their regular customers and for someone from out of town to be fitted in is not always possible.
Another bone of contention is that the authority it seems to be intent on closing the Barraba service the Tamworth office regularly sends inspectors to Barraba to undertake roadside checks, particularly during the harvest season. It seems hypocritical that inspectors will still travel to the town, while the Roads and Traffic Authority forces all the local heavy vehicle owners into an unnecessary journey, causing road damage that will cost much more than providing the service would in the long term. Locals believe that good Roads and Traffic Authority management could see a combination of roadside inspections with a regular inspection service.
Towns such as Barraba have had far too many services withdrawn over the past 30 years, and the community has had enough. This service is vital for Barraba and it must be retained. I ask Minister Roozendaal to intervene and preserve Barraba's ability to have regular local heavy vehicle inspections.
