As we are all aware, the Shoalhaven LGA has been hard hit with road damage and landslips over the last six months. A huge amount of work by Council and Transport for NSW has gone into getting roads reopened and potholes filled (and re-filled). For that we are very thankful.
Council have also decided to bundle the repair of a number of high priority landslips into a single tender to be issued before Christmas, with a view to work starting in early 2023. Of the 98 high priority landslips before Council, 35 are in this initial bundle. For Kangaroo Valley, the roads included are:
- Bunkers Hill Road
- Woodhill Mountain Road
- Foremans Road
- Wattamolla Road
- Kangaroo Valley Road
- Upper Kangaroo River Road
- Mount Scanzi Road.
That’s great news for the Valley, as a large number of road repairs have been recognised as high priority by Council. The issue we face is the extended timeframe before the roads are repaired. Given the amount of work involved and the limited resources to do it, it will be well into 2023 before we see significant progress.
From the discussions we have had within the community, we understand we can live with one lane access and we can live with traffic control, but the thing that is hurting residents on a day-to-day basis are the load limits that have been placed on some of our roads. At the time of writing, the following are the load limits that exist on Valley roads:
- Upper Kangaroo River Road (8T)
- Wattamolla Road (4.5T)
- Carters Road (3.5T)
- Bunkers Hill Road (3T)
- Foremans Road (3T).
In mid September, the KVCCB and community representatives from the impacted areas met with the Federal Member for Gilmore, Fiona Phillips (as represented by Jess), the State Member for Kiama, Gareth Ward, the Mayor, Amanda Findley, Ward 1 Councillors, SCC CEO, Stephen Dunshea and senior SCC executives to discuss the issue and to ensure they were all aware of the impact on our community. With great efforts by the Upper Kangaroo River Progress Association and Phil Scott, we were also able to hear a presentation from Mr Tim Sullivan (Geotechnical Consultant on slope stability) on the analysis he has done on the Upper Kangaroo River area. There is a considerable amount of instability in the landscape. A number of residents were also able to speak at the meeting. It was made very clear that we are hurting, and we need Council to review the load limits with a view to any possible work being completed in 2022 to allow the limits to be safely increased. Council acknowledged what we were saying and committed to reviewing the areas of concern and take advice from Tim Sullivan via a peer review of geotech reports. It was a productive meeting with a great outcome.
If you want to be added to the KVCCB mailing list (which covers more than just roads) please send your details (including property address, contact number and email address) to kvccb@kangaroovalley.nsw.au and we will ensure you are added. Our next General Meeting is Tuesday 29 November at 6:30pm in the Kangaroo Valley Hall.
Al Lockyer
Roads Working Group Chair
Kangaroo Valley Community Consultative Body
