Casino livestock carriers will be amongst those to benefit from a truck wash scheme which has secured Federal funding to improve facilities throughout New South Wales.
Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester today joined Member for Page Kevin Hogan on-site at the Northern Rivers Livestock Exchange in Casino to confirm the Australian Government’s contribution of almost $4.6 million to the jointly funded program.
Mr Chester said building and upgrading 26 existing truck wash out facilities around the state would reduce the frequency of effluent spills and improve road safety.
“We are going to deliver these upgrades to truck wash facilities in partnership with the NSW Government, one of them being Casino’s Northern Rivers Livestock Exchange,” Mr Chester said.
Mr Hogan said the Coalition election commitment to upgrade truck washes throughout the state would help target key livestock routes or effluent ‘hotspots’ where existing wash out facilities needed improvements to meet the demands of industry.
“Upgrading the Casino facilities is expected to come in at approximately $360,000, with works looking to start early next year and take around three months to complete. We will also see an upgrade carried out at the Grafton Regional Livestock Selling Centre, and having better facilities at the truck washes is going to deliver important flow on benefits to the region,” Mr Hogan said.
“The livestock industry is vital to this region and our local economy, and providing better truck wash out facilities for transport operators will save them time, improve the quality of livestock transport operations, and help keep our roads safe.”
The project is being delivered by the Australian and New South Wales governments on a 50/50 split.