Some very concerning news

Dear Cuttagee Bridge Supporters,

This update from the Bermagui Community Forum is lengthy but it explains some very real concerns about what Council is planning. 

Please do the survey and ask for a single lane timber bridge! The idea that the road is suitable for freight and logistics is extremely concerning. It would not only impact on the towns but also the wildlife in the national parks, flora reserves and state forest.

https://begavalley.nsw.gov.au/community/have-your-say-cuttagee-bridge-renewal

Cuttagee Bridge Design Decision to Bypass the Community

Council’s agenda papers for this week’s meeting on Wednesday are very light on with detail in describing the Design Services being tendered for Cuttagee Bridge. The specifications in the tender document are regarded as confidential by Council. The tender seeks to engage a suitably qualified and experienced consultant to provide Design Services to meet the conditions of the $15m funding agreement between Transport for NSW and Council.

However, the Community Forum understands that the staff report includes only three options, none of which meet the community's expectations on retaining true heritage values.

The three options are all based on a concrete construction with hybrid defined as concrete with "decorative timber" or indeed "decorative painted metal". None include timber as a structural element nor do any of the options include a timber deck.

The design options all appear to be designed to meet a strategy for the Bermagui-Tathra Road to be a new alternate truck route to the Princes Highway. All other heritage bridges on that beautiful tourist drive are in the sights of Council to be replaced by concrete in the future. This approach ignores the desire of the community to retain the road as a predominantly tourist route and is focused on the needs of some future industrial development.

Such an alternative truck route has major implications for the towns along the road - Bermagui, Tanja and Tathra. More traffic, more trucks, more speed, more noise and less acknowledgement of the tourism value of the road.

In their briefing in this tender for these Design Services, it appears Council is fixated on the three designs being  substantially concrete bridges with some “decorative timber” railings?

Council has to date been consistently delaying and derailing this restoration project in their clear objective of only replacing Cuttagee Bridge with a concrete structure. This is despite strong community support to date for a true hybrid structure including elements of concrete, steel and timber with aesthetic appeal. The NSW Government Minister for Regional Transport and Roads has had to repeatedly intervene with Council to get them to fully comply with the terms and spirit of their funding agreement.

Community Engagement
The agenda papers describe the community engagement undertaken to date, principally in late 2021 and early 2022 with the Cuttagee Bridge Community Advisory Group. It is noted that the majority of the members of this Group held strong views about the retention of the current structure on heritage grounds, allied with it being part of a group of wooden bridges on this coastal tourism route. This is being ignored by Council.

Council currently has a “Have Your Say” survey available to the community to gather feedback on various aspects of the bridge replacement project; including design, construction, and potential future road closures. This survey is on the Council Website and is open until April 30. Council is pre-empting the survey with a decision to be made that will ignore any community desire for a true heritage restoration of the bridge.

Council needs to listen to and understand the community desire to be properly consulted and not continue with their crash through approach to the restoration of Cuttagee Bridge.
 
https://www.facebook.com/bermaguiforum