NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison and Member for Bega Dr Michael Holland with supporters of saving Cuttagee Bridge. Photo: Marion Williams.
After voting against any community consultation on the future of Cuttagee Bridge in January, Bega Valley Shire Council has announced there will be a three-phase community engagement program.
On 18 March (Tuesday), the council issued a press release that said it had engaged the services of GHD, a leading engineering and consulting firm, to deliver the Cuttagee Bridge Renewal project.
“An essential component of their work will be undertaking and delivering stakeholder engagement and consultation activities.
“GHD will bring their expertise in community engagement and infrastructure projects to ensure a comprehensive and inclusive consultation process regarding the three design options agreed between Transport for NSW and Bega Valley Council.”
In March 2023, during the election campaign, NSW Labor promised $15 million to repair and restore Cuttagee Bridge in line with its heritage principles.
Sheena Boughen, a spokesperson for the Save Cuttagee Bridge Group (SCBG), said the council had not wanted to undertake a consultation process about what that might look like but the group had lobbied for it and succeeded.
The council said the consultation program had three phases – plan, engage, and refine.
The plan phase involves a ‘Have Your Say’ short survey to gather pre-concept design and methodology information.
The council said the survey aimed to gather “broad community feedback on various aspects of the bridge renewal project including design, construction, and the effects on users with what will be a major disruption to the road network”.
Cuttagee Bridge was designed by the NSW Public Works Department in 1892. Photo: Samantha Davis.
After examining the survey, SCBG is encouraging everyone to complete it even though it found it contained some biases.
Ms Boughen said surveys could be tricky, complicated processes, partly because they lacked context.
She said SCBG was concerned about some of the questions in the survey and why they were being asked, such as safety considerations.
“Council has an obligation for safety, so it is a furphy to include that,” Ms Boughen said.
“It is also very clear in the survey that our road could become a major highway with B-double trucks roaring down it,” she said.
That would ruin the tourism value of the old single-lane timber bridge on the tourist route between Bermagui and Tathra.
“We don’t support the road becoming an alternative highway route, which would contradict it being an economic road for tourism,” Ms Boughen said.
The NSW Government has committed $15 million to repair and restore Cuttagee Bridge in line with its heritage principles. Photo: Marion Williams.
The group is also concerned that the council is talking about replacing the bridge, rather than restoring it.
“In early 2024, Bega Valley Shire endorsed a plan to secure a long-term future for Cuttagee Bridge by formally accepting a $15 million grant from the NSW Government’s Regional Roads Fund to replace the existing bridge,” the 18 March press release said.
SCBG presented a report to NSW ministers in June 2023 that was based on input from global specialists on timber bridges.
In it, Professor Keith Crews from the University of Queensland said, “a ‘renewed’ timber bridge, properly designed and detailed (with significant rehabilitation) can meet relevant design standards, be durable and sustainable, and definitely a feasible alternative to replacement by a concrete structure”.
“There is no report that we can find that says the bridge needs to be replaced,” Ms Boughen said. “None of the reports through freedom of information said it is in a condition that it needs to be replaced.”
SCBG pointed to the example of the one-lane timber bridge at Wallaga Lake that was successfully repaired and restored last year.
“Wallaga Lake Bridge is safe, one-lane, heritage and beautiful,” Ms Boughen said. “Our message to council is you did it at Wallaga Lake, so you can do it at Cuttagee.
“We are thrilled that our lobbying has worked and we have a public consultation, but we would still prefer and request face-to-face and rigorous consultation that involved world timber bridge experts,” she said.
SCBG encouraged people to fill in the survey and encouraged others to have their say.
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