Main Roads new route shocks Walkaway and Moonyoonooka residents as bypass alignment cuts through paddocks

Many Mid West residents have been left devastated and angry after the shock announcement of the new Dongara-Geraldton-Northampton route alignment this week. Just two years after they originally fought and succeeded in arguing for an alternative route, the community is facing another fight as they seek to stop the new proposal. The new corridor was announced on Wednesday by the State Government after extensive planning investigations by Main Roads to reduce the impact on surrounding homes. The revised route “significantly” reduces the number of affected dwellings from ten to four south of Moonyoonooka, but residents have slammed a lack of consultation about the changes. Moonyoonooka Store owner Gary Davidson said he was unimpressed when Main Roads told him there was “no guarantee there would be room” for the store once the realignment was underway. “In their first breath they’ll say they want to preserve it, and then in the second breath they’ll say they will buy us out,” Mr Davidson said. Another affected Mid West resident, Alana Levett Birnie, who lives between Walkaway and Moonyoonooka, said her homestead was 153 years old and family-owned since it was first established. The route will cut through the dwelling, affecting her family, water source, income streams and future borrowing capacity. “My brother and our friends were affected on Arthur Road — we fought for that — and now we’ve ended up with it,” she said. “It’s affected at least six members of my extended family. My kids are the fifth generation to live in this house and it’s affected cousins, neighbours, everything. About six lots of Levetts have been affected by this new route. “This will be the fourth road going to Minnenooka — you have Brand Highway, Edwards Road and Arthur Road— how do they justify paying for that?” Ms Birnie said no amount of compensation could meet the value of her family’s home. “It’s history. It’s our life. It’s in our blood. It’s been farmed by the same family since it was taken up. I know that doesn’t make us any more important than anyone else but it cuts deep,” she said. Walkaway farmer Rosemary Levett said her family’s future was on the line, with the new bypass route cutting across 2000 acres of land. She said she would be unable to farm the land if the route went ahead and was tired of fighting a losing battle. “It cuts our farmland to pieces. I don’t understand how they can just ruin people’s lives by putting in a road,” she said. Mrs Levett said Main Roads had never been able to explain why the route was so important and believed it was a waste of time and funding. “Why are we having this road? Why do we need it here? I don’t get the gist of the importance of this road,” she said. They recently built a $450,000 house in Walkaway, expecting views overlooking the Mid West landscape, but instead it will now overlook a 500-metre wide bypass. Mrs Levett said the original road affected their farm but they were hit more significantly this time around. “It was a waste of time; they didn’t listen to what we say. We take farming gear across the road, we move across that road twice a day,” she said. Walkaway farmer Tessa Mitchell said the property her family bought for $2.5 million would be significantly affected. “Well once again — without any consultation — they have drawn another line affecting me and many of my family and friends in the community,” she said. “This time, the blue line is off my house block. But wait, it now goes right through the middle of my farm. “A farm that is all-grazing, meaning moving livestock will be impossible.” Ms Mitchell said she hoped the community would band together again, put money together and hire lawyers to fight the decision. “To say I’m gutted is an understatement,” she said. While the new route has been generally met with contempt, Moonyoonooka residents Colin and Sherlie Johnson had a different perspective. “The new line goes right around our house,” he said. “It pleases us because they won’t knock it down. It will take a bit of our back paddock, but it won’t harm the house.” The bypass route doesn’t make a difference for the Johnsons — he said they were waiting for Main Roads to buy them out — but the Johnsons’ neighbours were still in the firing line. “Some people behind us are going to lose their house, but I dare say they will be compensated,” Mr Johnson said.