![NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said transferring a road was a complex task. Picture by Peter Hardin NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said transferring a road was a complex task. Picture by Peter Hardin](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/150521478/538e8bb5-7069-435b-8609-559102f93575.jpg/r0_185_6956_4467_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
IT COULD be up to eight years before local councils receive any reprieve for road networks they simply can't afford to manage.
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NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said the state government's 2019 election promise to transfer and reclassify 15,000 of roads across NSW to be managed by the state was always going to take "some time".
"Transferring a road is a complex task," he said.
Before a road can be reclassified or transferred to the state government it must meet a specific standard and no grant money can be attached to the road.
Liverpool Plains Shire Council submitted an application to hand over the responsibility for 195 kilometres of the shire's road network in March.
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In August, mayor Doug Hawkins told the Leader he had not heard anything from the Minister about whether or not the application had progressed.
Tamworth Regional Council have applied to transfer Ogunbil Road, Werris Creek Road, Nundle Road, Rangari Road and Lindsays Gap Road to the state.
Mr Farraway said in the priority round of the transfer and reclassification program, 37 recommendations had been received and approximately 20 of them had been "actioned".
But an independent panel was still concluding their deliberations to "complete the process".
This comes after Mr Farraway was unable to confirm whether a single kilometre of road had been reclassified when he was pressed on the issue at an estimates hearing in September.
Mr Farraway said once he had received the report from the panel, which he anticipated to hit his desk before Christmas, the government would then be in a "position" to move forward on the priority round.
"Once I know that information we can develop a plan," he said.
Once the priority round is complete Mr Farraway said the rest of the applications would be considered "over the next 12 months."
With road transfers and reclassification considered a long term solution, Mr Farraway said in the short-term the state government was supporting local councils through the recently announced $50 million fund for potholes.
Mr Farraway said there was also $140 million in the Fixing Local Roads fund and $80 million in the pot for Fixing Country Roads.
Building resilience and building roads back better will also be part of the "long term" plan for the state government moving forward, the Minister said.
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