Don’t be fooled by funding from New England Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) or battery money being allocated to cycling/walking trail maintenance.
Armidale Regional Council’s own papers show the battery contribution for the rail trail is $20,000 a year for 20 years. But the 2020 business case put routine annual trail maintenance at about $154,706 a year — and that is before bigger costs like bridge deterioration, storm damage, flood repairs and major renewal works.
That means the outside contribution does not cover the real, long-term maintenance burden to Armidale’s tax payers!
The same ARC business case also relied on a patchwork of hoped-for offsets like donations, volunteers, sponsors, event income, user fees and sale of rail materials to make the maintenance story look workable.
That is not financial security. That is false comfort.
A small REZ-linked contribution does not equal a fully funded maintenance plan. Ratepayers should not be misled into thinking it does.
Tanya Langdon
21-apr-2026
Tanya Langdon runs a small local business and is a resident of Tenterfield. She has been active in political issues in the New England region for 10+ year
