With funding promises having fallen through, the Kirwans Bridge community remains in a state of uncertainty.
Following the October 2022 floods, the community’s easy access to Nagambie was closed to all traffic, making what was once a 5km journey to the town into one of 15.
On April 17 of this year, Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell announced that an elected coalition government would deliver $6.3 million to restore Kirwans Bridge.
As the coalition did not form government during the recent federal election, locals are back to square one.
With the bridge’s closure has come an added danger for residents such as Kerri Bradshaw, who said the back roads she now had to take for her weekly grocery shop came with risks that she previously did not have to face.
“Instead of being able to go across the bridge safely ... To go to town, we now have to go along back roads,” she said.
“The other night, I drove and there were mobs, not just one or two, but mobs of kangaroos, and I’m talking 100 to 150.
“We’re forced to drive in far more dangerous conditions than before.”
Local advocate Robyn Taylor said the road was not built with the intention of bearing the number of cars now crossing it.
“It wasn’t built for this level of traffic,” she said.
“When they built that back road, there was much less traffic.
“There’s probably the same amount of traffic that would be using the bridge now using that back road.”
The previous six-minute drive into town is now a distant memory, with local Helen McCurdy saying, “If you need bread and milk, it’s a 30km round trip to get it.”
What’s most distressing for the community is that time is against the bridge.
Without regular maintenance, the structure is falling further into disrepair, pushing back the timeline of its reopening.
“If they (council) don’t spend the money to reopen it and get it up to scratch, they’re going to have to spend the money in the future to demolish it like Chinamans Bridge,” Ms McCurdy said.
“So, why not spend the money now?”
Wahring farmer Darren Free said he was “not the only one” in the agriculture industry facing the impacts of the bridge’s closure.
“It impacts petrol, wear and tear, tyres,” he said.
“I’ve got a couple of chips in my windscreen, too.
“It’s a major impact, especially during lambing season.”
Strathbogie Shire Council said it was doing what it could to reopen the bridge.
“Council officers have met with the two engineering consultants that have previously completed assessments of the bridge to understand if there may have been any changes since the assessments that were undertaken following the 2022 flooding event,” a council spokesperson said.
“Council has consistently sought funding support from both state and federal governments to reopen the bridge safely and sustainably; this advocacy is ongoing.
“In April, we called on cross-party backing to fund the reopening of Kirwans Bridge, bringing to attention that infrastructure of this kind transcends politics — it’s about preserving history, enhancing liveability and investing in the future of regional Victoria.
“Council is committed to advocating for funding to enable the bridge to be reopened to vehicular traffic. This work is expensive and is outside council’s ability to fund directly.”
Mr Free met with Strathbogie Shire Mayor Claire Ewart-Kennedy, and said while “she understands the situation” and gave positive feedback, the community was still in the same position they were following the initial closure of the bridge.
“I guess we’ve had a change of engineering staff, we’ve had a change of CEO and a change of council since this has all happened, so we understand all of that,” he said.
“But, again, we’re getting the same spin we got 18 months ago: it’s the same result.
“From our perspective, when it first closed, we were quite persistent, and I’ll use the word ‘aggressive’, in our approach to council, but that didn’t work.
“So, we tried the collaborative approach, but what they did was just spin us a yarn.
“Now, we’re back to, ‘where to now?’ The new approach is that we’ve got to go a bit harder again.”