While they were living in Springvale near Bega the telephone line across the river was regularly cut by machinery operating in the vicinity.

In 2005 a minor flood washed away the line.

Along with their neighbours, they were without a landline for six months as a new line had to be redirected overland.

The Seckolds were forced to use mobile phones, which was costly, and could not access their computer.

After many phone calls and a massive amount of paperwork, telephone accounts were adjusted to compensate for the use of mobile phones.

In September 2008 the Seckolds applied for a telephone connection to their new home in Tathra.

They relocated in August 2009 and reactivated their application.

Telstra and its contractor made several trips to their home and tried to connect to their main telephone conduit by drilling through the hard rocky ground.

“They began with a huge boring machine which couldn’t break through the ground and then a smaller backhoe arrived which obviously had even more trouble doing the job,” Ms Seckold said.

“Then for some reason, men with shovels attempted the job which was a complete waste of time.”

As a result a decision to connect overhead was made three months later. “That took just 30 minutes and we wondered why,” Ms Seckold said.

“But we were told it was only a temporary connection.”

The line swings in the breeze and is low enough to be taken out by the trucks and heavy machinery going to and from the new building constructions behind their home.

The Seckolds were reassured by Telstra operators in Melbourne and the Gold Coast, never locally, that some compensation for the use of mobile phones for three months would be reflected in their next account.

It wasn’t and more phone calls revealed no record of the complaints.

Now the Seckolds are rejoicing that the phone is on but after it was connected they applied for a starter kit to connect to the internet.

This took two weeks to arrive by post as the operator had no record of the request.

As a Bega Valley Shire councillor Ms Seckhold said communication was very important in her role and she apologised for her non response to emails over the last three months.

She can now be contacted at lizsecold@g mail.com or 0447 272 893 or 6494 5906 on council matters.

Hopefully, that will remain in place.