…Cost of living starts at the farm gate

Fixing regional freight chokepoints like Scabbing Flat Bridge is a cost-of-living measure, not just a roads issue.

The problem

• Crumbling rural bridges and roads create freight bottlenecks that push up the price of everyday groceries.

• At Scabbing Flat Bridge near Geurie, the response has been stop-gaps: load limits, recurring width restrictions and temporary structures, rather than a permanent, fit-for-purpose bridge.

• Those restrictions force farmers, freight operators and small businesses onto long, fuel-wasting detours.

Who pays

• Every detour burns extra time, fuel and productivity.

• Freight companies don't absorb those costs. They're passed down the line and end up on supermarket shelves, including in Sydney.

• A 2024 Senate Select Committee on the Cost of Living found that policies raising costs for those who grow, process and transport food feed directly into higher retail prices.

The fix

• A small share of what's spent on city mega-projects would permanently upgrade critical rural freight links.

• That investment would secure food supply chains and cut costs for primary producers straight away.

"It is time for the NSW Government to stop applying expensive band-aids to decaying infrastructure and start investing properly in the lifelines that feed New South Wales."
— Michelle Tomkins, President

Have your say
The Timber Truss Bridge Strategy review is open until 30 October 2026: haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/TTBS-review