Four-year fight leads to budget success for suffering town
THE council has finally sealed the deal Hendon residents have spent years praying for, but for some the decision comes too late.
The pleas of Hendon residents made an impact on Southern Downs councillors, who yesterday voted to allocate $200,000 to seal residential roads in Hendon.
Hendon resident Rex Rigbye said sealed roads would increase the property value of a number of houses in Hendon.
"It's a bit hard to believe to tell you the truth... we had so many negative responses but we thought all we can do is just keep trying,” Mr Rigbye said.
In 2014, Hendon residents presented the previous council with eight certificates from various Southern Downs doctors detailing medical problems aggravated by dust from unsealed roads.
Mr Rigbye's wife, Anne, suffers from chronic asthma, which he says is worsened by the "constant” dust that blows into her house.
But the news of sealed roads means the couple will not have to relocate, as they feared they might.
"We like it here, but the dust was just causing too many problems and we were considering that we would have to move.”
But the council's decision came too late for some, who have already moved to escape the dust.
On top of the $200,000 for Hendon, the council has allocated $7 million of betterment work on the region's unsealed roads.
An additional $1 million will be spent on re-sealing roads throughout the region.
