Cuttagee Bridge is a heritage item in Bega Valley Shire Council’s Local Environmental Plan 2013. Photo: David Rogers Photography.
The responsible minister has rebuked Bega Valley Shire Council in relation to Cuttagee Bridge’s upgrade. Information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act also sheds new light on the whole process.
In 2023 the Minns Labor Government committed to the “repair and restoration of the Cuttagee Bridge in line with its heritage position”. It provided $15 million through the Regional Road Fund to support renewal of the bridge, south of Bermagui.
Council is responsible for the design and construction of the project.
Save the Cuttagee Bridge Group (SCBG) has a copy of the funding agreement between council and Transport for NSW.
SCBG spokesperson Joanna Cave said they were surprised to see that it was clearly expressed in several places that the staged funding was contingent on council fulfilling certain obligations.
“Those obligations include a heritage-sensitive outcome, and that consideration is paid to the environmental and tourism values, and the wishes of the community,” Ms Cave said. “If you take that information and look at the three options it is obvious that council hasn’t heeded those requirements.”
She said the community had been led to believe the funding deed effectively tied council’s hands.
“Now we can see the terms of the funding, it is clearly stipulated that the design options must take account of heritage, tourism, the environment and community wishes,” Ms Cave said. “Independent heritage expert Professor Richard Mackay said those proposed designs are totally inadequate and should be reconsidered.”
NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison and Member for Bega Dr Michael Holland with supporters of Cuttagee Bridge. Photo: Marion Williams.
One design – the preferred option – will proceed to full design and construction. The funding deed does not specify how that preferred option should be determined. Council has said that councillors will vote on the preferred option on 12 November.
As the deed requires, council did some community consultation including a survey in April to inform the design options and another one to get community feedback on the resulting three design options.
The April survey’s results were not made public, so SCBG obtained the results through freedom of information. It showed that 70 per cent of 529 respondents wanted the bridge rebuilt with a safe, slow, heritage sensitive, single-lane design.
Ms Cave said community members had participated in those surveys in good faith.
“The community view has remained consistent. Council has an obligation to take account of what ratepayers want. We don’t understand why council isn’t listening,” she said.
Separately, through freedom of information, a resident learnt that restoring Wallaga Lake Bridge, a heritage bridge to the north of Bermagui, cost $13.29 million.
Ms Cave said this information changed things “radically”.
“We have been told all the way through this process that Wallaga Lake Bridge’s restoration was too expensive for the Cuttagee project, but it cost less than the $15 million grant for Cuttagee Bridge,” she said.
Cuttagee Bridge was originally built in 1892. Photo: David Rogers Photography.
At a September community forum council said all three design options would cost more than $20 million, with the one-lane option being the cheapest.
“After Wallaga Lake Bridge’s very successful restoration we think it would be tragic for Cuttagee Bridge to have an inferior and more expensive outcome,” Ms Cave said.
“We accept that the bridges aren’t exactly the same, but it is no longer true to say Wallaga Lake Bridge isn’t relevant because it is different and cost way more,” she said.
Ms Cave said council could still “insert the correct steps and make sure the three options honour what is expected by the community and required by the funding deed”.
“We hope the minister revisits the funding deed and joins the dots as we have, and if she wants an independent expert view one is available to her.”
In a statement NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison said Cuttagee Bridge was a much-loved tourism and community asset, but there was significant community concern about its safety and capacity during the busy holiday period and in emergency situations such as bushfires.
“I understand many in the community want the upgraded bridge to uphold the heritage values of the current bridge, and the Minns Labor Government ensured that such an option was provided as a requirement of the funding deed which council signed when accepting state government funds to update the bridge.
“I remind council that successive state governments have tried to assist council upgrade the bridge, but the clear direction of the election commitment was that the funds were to be used to provide an upgrade that was sympathetic to the heritage values of the bridge,” Ms Aitchison said.
