The petition to raise the road at Testers Hollow has come to a standstill, with the petition organiser saying that people have lost interest.
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Sonia Warby of Cliftleigh began the petition calling on the state government to raise the road after the super storm of April 2015 closed Main Road at Testers Hollow for 16 days.
She has since garnered 4753 written signatures, just under half of the 10,000 needed to be tabled in parliament.
The petition had just over 4000 signatures during the last road closure in January, and Ms Warby said the numbers have tapered off gradually since then.
Ms Warby said business owners are reluctant to have the petitions in their shops anymore, and that because there has been no rain lately, people aren’t as interested.
“Once it [water] is off the road and they can get through, people don’t care,” she said.
“It’s been hard.”
Ms Warby believes other factors including people being reluctant to list their address and people taking out petitions but not bringing them back contribute to the lack of numbers.
“People promise to do it but half the people who take it don’t send it back,” she said.
The Facebook page Raise Testers Hollow has been un-liked by three people this week, as Ms Warby said there is nothing new to keep people engaged.
“There’s nothing we can put on there at the moment, there’s nothing to report,” she said.
While out trying to get signatures people have even said to Ms Warby, “What’s the point? It’s never going to get fixed”.
“You get a lot of negativity over it,” she said.
“I can understand why they think it’s not going to happen.
“But what else can you do?”
She said while she doesn’t want another flood causing a road closure, she believes this is what it will take for more people to sign the petition.
“I think it will standstill unless we get more rain,” she said.
“We just have to wait again.”
Printed petitions are available to sign at The Advertiser office (155 Vincent Street Cessnock), the Maitland Mercury office (6/555 High Street, Maitland), Cessnock MP Clayton Barr’s office (118 Vincent Street, Cessnock) and Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison’s office (24 Church Street, Maitland).
A digital copy is also available below.