At yesterday's Council meeting Councillor Phil Constable moved the motion that:
Council invite the Hon. Melinda Pavey MP in her capacity as NSW Minister for Roads, Maritime
and Freight, the Hon. Andrew Constance MP in his dual capacity as the Local Member,
NSW Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, and the Hon. John Barilaro MP, in his capacity as Deputy Premier, Minister for Regional NSW and Member for Monaro, together Parliamentary Secretary the Deputy Premier and Southern NSW The Hon. Bronnie Taylor MLC (National) and the RMS Southern Region Manager Ms Renae Elrington to a meeting with Councillors and the necessary Council staff, as soon as it can be arranged, to engage in a discussion about the vital importance of:
i) advancing the upgrading the Princes Highway and Kings Highway, noting the critical
role these highways have in servicing Eurobodalla Shire’s residents, businesses and
transport needs, the greater South Coast and Canberra regions and the international market place via Canberra airport.
ii) developing longer term plans for the future redevelopment of the Princes Highway
and Kings Highway to meet the medium and long term needs. Councillor Constable spoke to the Motion: From the out-set I wish to express gratitude to our local member and Minister of Infrastructure the Hon Andrew Constance MP, who recently reiterated his commitment to the construction of a new bridge at Batemans Bay and the completion of the South Batemans Bay Link Road. Our Shire has other transport infrastructure needs in addition to these two identified; some are addressed within the Princes Highway Corridor Strategy; others are not. The northern approach to Narooma, which only last week witnessed yet another overturned vehicle accident. The intersection of the Kings Highway at Batemans Bay. The congestion problems with-in Moruya. And, the long-term planning for outer by-passes of our towns and villages are readily identified. While being outside the scope of the corridor strategy, the Kings Highway is of vital social and economic importance to our Shire and the prosperity of our community. Funding for future upgrading of the Kings Highway has dried up. Despite Council staff’s well articulated advocacy through conventionally pursued channels we currently have no new grant funding to assist,even in the planning and design phase,for priority upgrades that need to be constructed. We need another to employ another level of advocacy directly to the decision makers. Preferably on our turf. So that they can best appreciate the needs and issues before our community. It is with respect to our local member Honourable Minister, and his position of support for long-term infrastructure solutions for our Shire’s transportation needs that I propose this motion. The above transcript was kindly provided by Clr Constable for the benefit of those unable to attend the Council meeting or watch the live-stream webcast The Motion was commended by Councillor Lindsay Brown who offered the suggestion of the addition of Parliamentary Secretary the Deputy Premier and Southern NSW The Hon. Bronnie Taylor MLC (National) to the list of invitees. The motion was passed unanimously.
