Congo Community Association voted unanimously, with conditions, to support the council’s proposed land swap to reopen Congo Road. Photo: Region.
Eurobodalla Shire Council has proposed a land swap to reopen Congo Road.
And now that the council is running the arts spaces in the Bay Pavilions, Moruya Broulee Physical Culture Club can no longer afford to hire the Yuin Theatre for its end-of-year competition and its access to the dance studio has been reduced.
Congo Community Association (CCA) public officer Johanna Weaver, and Trinity Ladmore, who heads the Moruya Broulee Physical Culture Club, spoke at the council’s public access session on Tuesday (14 July). Ms Weaver was concerned only four councillors were present to hear her speak on the important matter of gazetting the swapped land as a public road at the time the council swaps it with the property owner.
On 13 May, Mayor Mat Hatcher and general manager Mark Ferguson briefed the Congo community about a proposed two-stage solution that involves swapping the paper road for a portion of land on the northern side of Lot 197. The short-term solution is building a 2.5-metre-wide pathway for pedestrians, cyclists and horses. In the longer term, a full roadway would be constructed along the route.
Ms Weaver said CCA voted unanimously to support the council’s proposal in principle if four conditions were met, including that the land was gazetted as a public road at the time of the land swap.
The land swap would occur before environmental and other surveys are done, so CCA also wants the council’s assurance that a road can be feasibly built on the swapped land.
CCA asked that the pathway be built and maintained to a standard that emergency vehicles can use if needed, plus asked for the council’s commitment to work with it to advocate for NSW Government funding to build the road.
Congo Road barricaded. Photo: File.
Mr Ferguson wrote to CCA advising that the council’s intention is for a dedicated road reserve to be opened as part of any land swap.
“A road reserve simply identifies land set aside for road purposes,” Ms Weaver said. “It does not provide the legal status of a public road or provide for public access.”
She said without the swapped land being gazetted as a public road, the council would be turning Congo into a one-road-in, one-road-out community. That was against the findings of a royal commission and the NSW Bushfire Inquiry, and NSW Planning for Bush Fire Protection guidelines.
The declaration of a public road would not cost the council any more money than the dedication of a road reserve. It is just different paperwork. “That piece of paper is very important to us,” she said.
CCA would also like a demonstration that emergency vehicles can access the existing track in use that currently has locked gates and concrete bollards.
Ms Ladmore said every week, Moruya Broulee Physical Culture Club trained more than 70 women and girls, with ages ranging from two to more than 70. She said it was an Australian sport that started in 1892 and mixed dance and aerobics to build physical fitness, flexibility and self-esteem.
The pinnacle is to perform at the Sydney Opera House, but it is difficult for regional clubs to compete against Sydney branches. So, to give its members the same sense of empowerment and joy at performing on a stage before an audience, the club has hired the Yuin Theatre for its end-of-year competition since 2023. Sometimes it also hires the Bay Pavilions’ dance studio because it is important for people to have the opportunity to perform in front of mirrors.
Some of Moruya Broulee Physical Culture Club’s younger members. Photo: Moruya Broulee Physical Culture Club/Facebook.
On 1 July, the council took over running the Bay Pavilions’ art spaces. Ms Ladmore said the council’s stated intention was activation, community access and utilisation.
She said the club ran its end-of-year event at the Yuin Theatre as leanly as possible “but our fees have increased 45 per cent from last year and 100 per cent since our first event in 2023 and is now cost-prohibitive”.
“The new access model for the dance rehearsal room also removes this venue from us,” she said.
Ms Ladmore said Bay Pavilions had been partly grant-funded and was intended to support vibrant arts and sports in the area.
“I ask council to reflect on the future strategic direction of the Bay Pavilions and Yuin Theatre and the stated intent,” she said. If they were not aligned, the council should “change its rhetoric”, she said.
Councillor Amber Schutz said she had similar concerns when she saw the prices and the application process.
