You might not have heard of Dandaloo. And if the current state of play continues, it’s unlikely you’ll ever be able to visit any time soon.
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Families living on Dandaloo’s Jamea Road, near Narromine in NSW’s central west, have been trapped by floods for five months.
The seemingly never-ending rain and flooding has made the James Rd unusable.
That has made day-to-day farming operations almost impossible; it’s put and end to school drop-offs and regular trips to town are just unthinkable.
“Town” is Trangie, 40km north-west. Since May this year it might as well be in another universe.
Dandaloo’s Broughton family have had enough.
The Broughtons took the video to the Narromine Shire Council meeting on Wednesday night.
Although the video was entertaining and funny for the council, the underlying seriousness of the issue was not unnoticed by the newly inducted councillors.
Story continues after video
Father and farmer Greg Broughton said their business is losing money and he’s frustrated he can’t get answers about when his road is getting fixed.
“Imagine if someone just taped the door of a business in town and said ‘nope, you can’t get anything in or out of here for four months’. Imagine what would happen,” he said.
“As a farmer you have to take the droughts and floods, but this?”
Mother of three Kate Broughton said her children are missing their friends and school.
“They’re worried because holidays are coming up for two weeks so they’re not going to see any of their friends for a while,” she said.
Mr and Mrs Broughton are regularly communicating with the council, who are unable to find the funds for the road which is in excess of $500,000.
The desperate family appealed to Dubbo MP and deputy premier Troy Grant about their road and received a negative response.
“Existing budget constraints mean the council cannot address your concerns about Jamea Road at the moment,” he said in a letter to the Broughtons.
Mrs Broughton said they made the video to shed some light on the situation.
“It’s amazing what you can achieve when you’re flooded in,” she laughed.
“But we’re mainly trying to support council in getting access to grants to fix the road, because it’s not just us who are affected by this.”