The hectares of tall, green grass which surround the curious historical site of Environa, just over the ACT border from NSW at Hume, are curing fast and browning off, and firefighting volunteer and local resident Phil Luke is worried.
Mr Luke lives in the fast-growing NSW border suburb of South Jerrabomberra, a hefty stone's throw from the dilapidated railway line which marks the ACT border.
In his new suburb, there's just one way in and out: a convoluted winding four-kilometre road which ironically runs parallel with the ACT border then jinks back into NSW to combine with the heavy traffic flow from Jerrabomberra.
In an emergency, Mr Luke said the only route out for his community was to drive toward the most likely fire front, not away from it.
"Just over that hill is our suburb; there only needs to be one fast-moving grass fire and we're in big trouble," Mr Luke said, gesturing toward the vast, swaying Environa grasslands.
"And what's the access plan for emergency vehicles? The same way. Fire doesn't respect state and territory borders; we saw that in the 2020 Beard fire which crossed the border. Why don't governments learn from these things?"
ACT City Services Minister Chris Steel has declared there will be no "ad hoc" connections from over the border.
So what should be a five minute drive to the Monaro Highway now sends South Jerrabomberra residents on a long and winding road in another direction. "So much for cross-border cooperation," Mr Luke said.
Growing every week and bustling with trades and construction, the Village Building Company's South Jerrabomberra will eventually be home to more than 1500 residents, many of whom work in the ACT but choose to live just over the border where costs of housing are more affordable.
However, the cross-border roads stoush, which prevents resident access to the Monaro Highway through Hume, has rekindled decade-old tensions from when the developers and the Canberra Airport were locked in a fierce battle over aircraft noise corridors.
While the dust settled long ago on that dispute, the new battleground is road access.
Aside from the Village Building Company investment, the NSW government is pouring millions of dollars into the area to create the so-called South Jerrabomberra regional jobs precinct, recreation and education facilities.
All this activity has generated a prickly situation for the ACT government given it is already co-investing - in partnership with the federal government - about $230 million on the new Monaro Highway-Lanyon Drive intersection and flyover, which will benefit both NSW residents and improve the traffic flow to and from Tuggeranong.
An independent report prepared in April last year for the Department of Regional NSW on traffic and transport requirements for the precinct found that two new connections into ACT were needed: one from Sheppard Street "inclusive of an upgrade to the Lanyon Drive interchange providing direct access to the Monaro Highway" and another "from an extension of Isabella Drive in the south providing direct access to the Monaro Highway".
In the meantime, the former access points are now locked off and concrete blocks dragged in place.
Minister Steel said talks were continuing on an Isabella Drive flyover but that it "is a major project that would primarily benefit NSW residents".
"We are designing it now as we build the flyover at Lanyon Drive," he said.
"But the contributions to build it [the Isabella Drive flyover] have to start with the developer, NSW and Commonwealth governments."
He also stated unequivocally on his social media page: "Let me be clear, we will not cause chaos for Tuggeranong residents by allowing ad hoc road connections from South Jerrabomberra."
However, the residents say that as contributors to the ACT economy, they deserve better consideration. A petition has been raised with the ACT Assembly to incorporate north and south access roads easy access into and out of Tralee, "not only for residents, but for ACT residents who will be working or using facilities in the area".
