Friday rush - Maude Bridge, adventure zone and pool amenities all officially opened
The opening of the amentities at Hay Pool was the final engagement for the offical party, following a trio of project unveilings. (From left) Hay Mayor Carol Oataway, Bendigo Bank director Stacey Lugsdin, Senator Deborah O’Neill and member for Murray Helen Dalton. Images: The Riverine Grazier / Krista Schade.
By Krista Schade
Hay Shire Council celebrated the official opening of a trio of projects on Friday.
To commence celebrations, a large group gathered alongside the Murrumbidgee River at Maude, to celebrate the opening of the new Maude Bridge.
The official party included Helen Dalton, Members for Murray, Senator Deborah O’Neill and Member for Farrer Sussan Ley.
Also in attendance was the mayor and councillors from Cumberland City Council, Hay’s sister council, as well as local Hay Shire councillors.
“The original wooden bridge was opened in 1957, and named the Matthews Bridge after long-serving Waradgery Shire President Roy Matthews,” Hay Mayor and emcee Cr Carol Oataway shared. “Now here we are opening the replacement bridge; bigger and better than the one before it.”
The road to last Friday was fraught with delays, as Hay Shire Council fought to secure funding to have the bridge replaced, when it began to fail, and became unsafe for heavy transport.
This mean that farm machinery, trucks and even caravanning tourists were not able to cross, causing delays in productivity for local businesses and robbing Maude village of the valuable tourist trade.
Design of the new bridge was undertaken by Barson Engineers, with construction handled by Abergeldie Infrustrusture at a cost of $8 million.
The official opening and unveiling of the commemorative plaque was undertaken by Ms Dalton.
Former Mayor Bill Sheaffe shared his recollections of the dogged determination that saw the new Maude Bridge finally come into fruition.
“The original bridge crossing the Murrumbidgee River at Maude was built under the supervision and funding of the Waradgery Shire Council,” Mr Sheaffe said. “It was a wooden structure opened in 1957 and replaced a punt that had served the community and travellers.
“Over time the single lane wooden structure deteriorated, and, on several occasions, inspections revealed that repair work was urgently needed at a substantial cost to the Hay Shire Council.
“At the end of its life the bridge was unique in that it was the only bridge in NSW on a main road that was deemed to be the responsibility of a local council. Neither the Federal nor State Government wanted to know about it. Eventually the structure got to the point that a load limit was placed on it.
“Several years before this Allen Dwyer (General Manager), Bill Moore (Director of Technical Services) and Council had been preparing submissions to both senior levels of Government. This involved many hours of work and trips by senior staff, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor to highlight the importance of this project to various ministers.
“The infrastructure is of regional importance and funding required was way beyond the Councils means. Several offers were made to council but were unrealistic and had to be rejected.
“Eventually, in 2020 whilst, Kirstyn Thronder was Acting General Manager, the Honourable Sussan Ley Member for Farrer announced that the NSWl Government would fund the entire project.
“The rest is now history,” Mr Sheaffe concluded.
Friday’s welcome rainfall did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the official party for the two unveilings back in Hay.
At the opening of the teenage adventure zone, located behind the John Houston Memorial Pool complex Senator O’Neill shared that her brother was a BMX champion, who was Nicole Kidman’s stunt double in the 1983 Australian hit movie ‘BMX Bandits.’
The Senator also applauded Hay Shire Council for their efforts in securing funding and completing all the projects to a high standard.
The party then moved to the entrance of the pool complex, for the unveiling of the striking new amenities block.
Mayor Oataway welcomed special guest David Houston, son of John ‘Jack’ Houston, who spoke of his father’s efforts to secure a safe place for children to learn to swim.
His recollection of his father raffling cockatoos and galahs to raise funds for the pool was met with delight by the crowd.
Bendigo Bank board member Stacey Lugsdin also addressed the crowd, following the community bank’s $30,000 donation to the kitchen and canteen facilities at the pool.
The amenities block was jointly funded by the NSW Government’s Regional Sport Facility Fund, the Federal Government’s Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Fund and Hay Shire Council.
“The modern facilities will not only make it easier for staff to provide quality services, it will encourage more people in Hay to make the most of this fantastic complex,” said Senator O’Neill.
