Urgent: action for Council meeting tomorrow
Hello Cuttagee Bridge Supporters,
This is very short notice, sorry, but a Motion 13.2 (below) is going to Council tomorrow which needs your help, if possible please:
1.Attend the Council meeting
Can people come along to the Council meeting tomorrow to show their support? No speaking required, just a presence. Details are:
An Ordinary Meeting of the Bega Valley Shire Council will be held at Council Chambers, Biamanga Room Bega Valley Commemorative Civic Centre Bega on
Wednesday, 9 February 2022 commencing at 2:00pm
2. Email a Councillor BEFORE 2pm tomorrow
and ask them to support Motion 13.2
Joy Robin Jrobin@begavalley.nsw.gov.au
David Porter Dporter@begavalley.nsw.gov.au
Karen Wright Kwright@begavalley.nsw.gov.au
Cathy Griff cgriff@begavalley.nsw.gov.au
Liz Seckold lseckold@begavalley.nsw.gov.au
If not individual ones, you can write to the Acting General Manager and ask him to pass it on to all the Councillors before the meeting: council@begavalley.nsw.gov.au
With much appreciation,
Karen
13.2. Cr Helen O'Neil - Cuttagee Bridge
Notice of Motion
1. Council notes that: · Cuttagee Bridge is identified as having ‘very high significance’ on the Local Heritage register (Bega Valley LEP 2013, Schedule 5, item #655);
· Following a funding offer from Transport for New South Wales - Fixing Country Bridges program, on 10 March 2021 Councillors resolved (Resolution 37/21) without broad community consultation to demolish Cuttagee Bridge and to replace it with a two-lane concrete structure;
· This policy sparked strong community opposition expressed in petitions, surveys, public meetings and other protests, and media reporting, up to and during the council election campaign; and
· The offer from Transport for New South Wales - Fixing Country Bridges program was withdrawn, and no funding currently exists to implement Council’s policy.
2. Council seeks State Government funding for an external study into the feasibility and costs of a sustainable and safe timber or hybrid one-lane bridge at Cuttagee:
· The study to be initiated no later than June 2022
· The study should address the environment and climate related issues of a crossing in this location and the implications of sea level rise, coastal inundation, and erosion
· The study is to determine the appropriate weight limit and design for the bridge
· The study should consider the role of the Tathra-Bermagui Road as an asset in a broader cultural tourism strategy for the Bega Valley.
3. Council recognises the need for urgent repair work to be undertaken on the bridge and will allocate sufficient funds as and when required to ensure so that it can continue to serve residents and visitors safely into the future
4. Council directs that any construction and repair work respects the heritage status of the bridge and its sensitive coastal environment
5. Council will develop a community engagement strategy commensurate to the project requirements
6. Council thanks the members of the community advisory group for their time and diligence in identifying relevant heritage aspects of Cuttagee Bridge