At a time when council is under significant financial pressures with a looming $5.4 million annual deficit Transport for NSW (TfNSW) informed the council that they will no longer co-fund one of the shires rest areas. Temora Shire Council is not alone with other councils across the South West Region of the state experiencing similar cost shifting from the NSW state government onto regional local government areas. In its justification for the review of the co-funding arrangement TfNSW says that the Temora West Rest Area is located in an urban area and therefore does not cater solely for state road users or heavy vehicle users. According to the document provided to Temora Shire Council by TfNSW that the ending of the co-funding arrangement will represent a significant saving to TfNSW. They state that the funding costs have increased significantly over the past number of years and no longer represent value for state road users, this money will then be diverted into other maintenance tasks. This saving for TfNSW is then transferred back onto regional and rural councils. In the case of the Temora West site council will lose $5500 in co funding which was 50 per cent of the costs of cleaning and rubbish collection annually.
