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- 4 September 2001
Keira Electorate Roads Project
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Page: 16332
Mr CAMPBELL (Keira) [5.38 p.m.]: I refer to a road infrastructure project in the Keira electorate known as the northern distributor. This project began as some lines on a map in the late 1940s and early 1950s—indeed, some years before I was born, which constituents continually remind me about! The road has been planned since that time but it is not yet finished. Two stages have been completed and the road now runs from north Wollongong near the University of Wollongong, which is a great institution, to Bellambi Lane. A commitment of the Government, as part of the Government's road strategy 2010, is to complete the next stage of the project, from Bellambi Lane to Molloy Street and the Princes Highway at Bulli. The Roads and Traffic Authority [RTA] has been undertaking some quite serious planning to that end and has been working through a process to develop a preferred option.
Approximately two years ago—not long after I was first elected to this place—I approached the Minister for Transport, and Minister for Roads, the Hon. Carl Scully, and pointed out that there is a lot of confusion in the electorate and surrounding areas about where the road is proposed to go and whose property or whose home might bear the impact of the road's construction. I suggested that a community liaison group be formed and chaired by me. I acknowledge those who are part of the group, namely, Mr Doug Robertson from the Woonona Primary School; Mr Clive Arthur, the Principal of the Woonona High School; Mr Stephen Price, Mr Gerry Doyle, Mr Ron Halsey and Mrs Gloria Halsey; Mr Ron Byrnes; Ms Pru Simpson; Mr Graham Sturgiss and Mr Greg Smart. Those people agreed to form the community liaison group. I have had the opportunity of working with them over the past two years.
I add that although not all those people support this great project and not all of them have continued to support it, they have made a significant contribution to the planning of the project as it has proceeded. They have provided significant input and they have changed the opinion and the minds of several of the members of the RTA's project team. I acknowledge also the RTA project team from the regional office, which is led by Geoff Style and comprises, among others, Ken Collins, Kali Gupta, Peter Beattie and Ross Dearden. The team has been quite receptive to the suggestions that members of the community have put forward. The project has reached the stage of presentation of the preferred option report in mid-October. The report will feed into an environmental impact statement [EIS] process that will also provide an opportunity for community input.
In early August the RTA publicly displayed the preferred option and approximately 1,000 people inspected the display over 10 days. Of the 1,000 people who attended, approximately 600 completed a feedback sheet and a small questionnaire. In my view that is quite a phenomenal response rate. And, importantly, approximately 87 per cent of those people indicated their strong support for the road project to proceed. The outcome from this process of community debate, community consultation and community input—a process that has been very open and transparent—is both a clear indication of the need to extend this road, from its proposed completion point at Molloy Street to the foot of Bulli Pass, and a clear understanding of the need to improve and rebuild the intersection of Bulli Pass, Princes Highway and Lawrence Hargrave Drive.
The whole project is important for commuter traffic, commercial traffic to Port Kembla, local traffic and equally it is important for access to the Illawarra region by tourists who might be driving along the Princes Highway and farther south. The Government has made a commitment under its 2010 strategy to the next stage of the project. I have spoken with the Minister many times, and I take this opportunity to reinforce the need for design work to be stepped up on the next stage between Princes Highway, Bulli and Bulli Pass, and the need for completion of work on the estimated cost-benefit ratio for work on the intersection of the Bulli Pass, Princes Highway and Lawrence Hargrave Drive.
Having made these comments, I hasten to acknowledge the support I have received from the Minister, the RTA and the community. I congratulate those who have come forward and who have spent a deal of time participating in the community liaison group. I thank them for their efforts. By my participation in this debate, I am endeavouring to ensure that the project remains a priority for this Government and that construction will commence as soon as possible.
Ms NORI (Port Jackson—Minister for Small Business, and Minister for Tourism) [5.43 p.m.]: I am very pleased to have heard the honourable member for Keira refer to plans for infrastructure works in his electorate. It pleases me that the planning process for the next stage is well under way and that the local community, by taking an active interest in the planning process, has made a positive contribution to the plans that the RTA had initially put forward. I, too, look forward to the environmental impact statement [EIS] process that will follow the options report, which I understand will be presented in the near future.
As the honourable member for Keira rightly identified, the project will improve commuter traffic and will be important for commercial traffic. But, of course, he mentioned the magic word. The honourable member is quite right in his assertion that anything that improves and enhances the access of tourists to the Illawarra and Wollongong is obviously a worthwhile project. It is terrific that the people who live in the local community have participated. They now have an investment in the plan as a local community and I look forward, if necessary, to even redirecting the very successful South Coast Touring by Car route when the road is completed.
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