[Bermagui Community] Bermagui Community Forum Update - Notice of Public Meeting

[Bermagui Community Forum]

Cuttagee Bridge Public Meeting Wednesday 2nd June

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Bermagui Community Forum Update
In this issue

. Cuttagee Bridge Community Meeting (#Cuttagee)

Management Committee

Coordinator:                       C (mailto:geoffsteel1 at bigpond.com) liff Abbott (mailto:cliff at lotusbd.com.au)
Deputy Coordinator:      Narelle Myers
Treasurer:                          Geoff Steel
Secretary:                                 Vacant
Fergus McWhirter
Adam Millar
David Monro
Bill Southwood

A community meeting on the proposed replacement of the Cuttagee Bridge will be held on:

Wednesday 2nd June
5.00pm to 6.30pm
Country Club Auditorium
Book at eventbrite.com (https://facebook.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9030b531e962ad02c68a923c8&id=e8ecddab1e&e=34e977e1dc)
Council have advised that their representatives are available for a Community Meeting about the proposed Cuttagee Bridge replacement. Council will be represented by Mayor, Russell Fitzpatrick, Anthony McMahon, Director Assets and Operations and Dr Alice Howe, Director Community Environment & Planning. Other Councillors have been invited to attend. We are also inviting Andrew Constance MP, Minister for Transport and Roads, to the meeting. We feel it is essential to gather the town together on this issue.

The Auditorium is restricted to 100 persons seated. To attend the meeting please book a ticket at eventbrite.com (https://facebook.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9030b531e962ad02c68a923c8&id=1ee5906681&e=34e977e1dc) . We will also live stream the meeting on our Facebook (https://facebook.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9030b531e962ad02c68a923c8&id=3e4e247fed&e=34e977e1dc) page to ensure that as many community members as possible are involved.

The format of the meeting will include an introduction from Council representatives on reasons for Cuttagee Bridge replacement, questions from the audience and up to 10 speakers with a 3 minute time limit. Sheena Boughen of Barragga Bay, co-founder and previous chair and CEO of Four Winds will facilitate the meeting.

Please email us at bermaguiforum at gmail.com (mailto:bermaguiforum at gmail.com) if you want to be one of the speakers.

Latest Update

Council has this week advised that subsequent to Council’s resolution of 31 March which included seeking to extend the Transport for NSW funding agreement to at least a four year project delivery timeframe, that they have received correspondence from Transport for NSW advising they are withdrawing funding under Round 1 of Fixing Country Bridges towards this project predominantly due to Council being unable to deliver the project within the required two-year timeframe. They have also advised that they are keen to continue to work with Council and understand project and funding opportunities for Cuttagee Bridge under Round 2 of Fixing Country Bridges.

Council has also advised the Federal Building Better Regions Fund program managers that Council no longer has the funding commitment from the State towards the project that was being used to leverage Federal Funding.

Council is still progressing with planning for the replacement of Cuttagee Bridge and this will involve further community engagement on how best to address the heritage and tourism concerns related to the bridge replacement.

Coverage in the Bega District News

The issue of the bridge replacement was recently covered in the Bega District News. You can read the article here (https://facebook.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9030b531e962ad02c68a923c8&id=142d371583&e=34e977e1dc) .

Alternative and Affordable Solution

In the interim, we have been investigating alternative and more affordable solutions than a $11.5 million two lane concrete bridge, where Council has to find an additional $4 million in funding and complete construction within 2 years. We believe an alternative approach could deliver a better economic, engineering and heritage value outcome for Cuttagee Bridge that would better satisfy the concerns of both Council and the community.

https://facebook.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9030b531e962ad02c68a923c8&id=05d3da5e89&e=34e977e1dc

We have identified a similar regional NSW wooden bridge restoration project at Brunswick Heads in Byron Shire that was just completed in March 2021. This wooden bridge is 65m long and 6.5m wide, incorporating 2 (narrow) lanes and a walkway. The total project restoration cost was $1.7million, with the restored bridge now having an estimated life of 75 years. This information was obtained from an interview with Byron Council, bridge engineer Josh Provis and Byron Council website (https://facebook.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9030b531e962ad02c68a923c8&id=3efb9ea3dc&e=34e977e1dc) .

The funding for the Brunswick Heads project was provided through the Federal Government Bridges Renewal Program which provides funding for 50% of the estimated project cost. BVSC has received funding for other bridges under previous rounds of this Program, which is ongoing.

On-going bridge maintenance for the Brunswick Heads bridge is estimated at $10-20k per year, with additional investment of $100k every 10 years for a major review. This equates to around $1.5 million over 50 years.

Both the Byron Council and the community have been happy with the outcome.

Under a similar alternative restoration approach, BVSC may be able to substantially contain current Cuttagee Bridge construction costs.

The community remains committed to restoring our one lane wooden bridge.

And please get your friends to sign up to our newsletter to know what’s going on at our signup page (https://facebook.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9030b531e962ad02c68a923c8&id=0231174fd5&e=34e977e1dc)  and get them to sign the change.org petition (https://facebook.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9030b531e962ad02c68a923c8&id=0c019333a7&e=34e977e1dc)
.

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Bermagui Community Forum . 30 O'Connells Point Rd . Wallaga Lake, NSW 2546 . Australia

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