PLEASE NOTE:

MASKS MUST BE WORN AT

THE WANDANDIAN PROGRESS ASSOCIATION MEETING

ON TUESDAY 6th JULY AND

DURING ALL PRIVATE HIRE EVENTS

as per the current Public Health Orders and restrictions . The 4m2 rule has been reinstated.

MEETING REMINDER

The Annual General Meeting and the May monthly ordinary meeting of Wandandian Progress Association will be held on Tuesday 4th May 2021 at Wandandian Hall, at 6:00 pm, as we advised in a previous notification. The Election of Office bearers will also take place during the AGM and it is hoped that we will attract “new blood” to our committee in order to improve the wider representation of our community within our organisation.

If you have not already done so please consider becoming involved. Even if you are not able to take on a committee position, your participation at our monthly meetings and projects will benefit Wandandian and give you a sense of belonging within this wonderful little community that we all call home.

These meetings will be short so that we will be able to devote as much time as possible to the meeting that will follow at 7:00 pm with the Transport NSW JBSI Project team who will be in attendance to discuss the Highway Bypass.

Here are the Minutes of the April Monthly Ordinary Meeting.

AGENDA
Date:      Tuesday 4 May 2021

Venue:    Wandandian Progress Hall

Time:      6.00pm General Meeting
                6.30pm AGM and Election of Office Bearers
                7.00pm Transport NSW Jervis Bay, Sussex Inlet (JBSI) Project:
                Community Consultation Meeting

Wandandian Rural Fire Brigade Captain Dennis Stannard was recognised in the 2021 Australia Day Honours with the award of the Australian Fire Service Medal.

He is truly a worthy recipient of this award and Wandandian Progress Association congratulates him on behalf of the Wandandian Community.

Following the December meeting of the Wandandian Progress Association, our Secretary forwarded the following letter to the Jervis Bay Sussex Inlet Upgrade team at Transport NSW, to voice our Community’s concerns about the ‘Preferred Strategic Corridor’ option. Copies of the letter were sent to Councillor Patricia White, Mayor Amanda Findley, Shelley Hancock, and Fiona Phillips.

For the attention of the JBSI Project Team

The Wandandian Progress Meeting for December took place Tuesday 1 December 2020, and the meeting was attended by 35 community members who had concerns about the proposed “Preferred Strategic Corridor” option selected by NSW Transport, for Wandandian. The concerned residents mainly consisted of those who own, farm and live on this corridor and those who had received letters. The concerns raised at the meeting concentrated on Section D (Bewong Roadhouse to Sussex Inlet intersection) of the JBSI Project.

A robust discussion about the highway bypass resulted in two motions which the Wandandian Progress Association were asked to submit on behalf of the community. Progress members fully support the following motions and request that on behalf of the Wandandian Community they be seriously considered throughout the planning stages of this project.

The first motion was in relation to the ‘Open for Consultation’ via an on-line survey around the bypass requiring responses by 20 December.

The survey clearly identifies the “Preferred Strategic Corridor” chosen by NSW Transport and the survey questions around the pros and cons for the highway bypass are all pitted against the one “Preferred Strategic

Corridor”. Presenting the survey in this way does not allow a true representation of the sentiment and opinions around the highway bypass and does not allow for consideration of a suitable route selection.

The community were unanimous in their decision that the Survey should have included a choice of options for the bypass route and then asked the general questions ‘For or Against’, the highway bypass.

Secondly, a unanimous decision was put forward as a motion, that the Transport NSW “Preferred Strategic Corridor” option for Section D of the JBSI Project is not suitable for Wandandian. This route has the highest negative impact on the environment and the most serious negative impact on the property owners who live on this corridor and is certainly not the option that sits comfortably with this community.

These same residents, just 12 months previously had suffered property loss and damage as a result of the Currowan bush fires. They then suffered alone during the COVID lock down and now they are facing possible loss of their properties (unwillingly) due to the preferred bypass corridor which has been delivered to them quite unexpectantly and in a disturbing letter from Transport NSW. As a result of this sentiment, and their strong belief that a more suitable route should be found, all 6 options as outlined in the Princess Highway Upgrade – JBSI Road – Strategic Corridor Option Report, V1, were reviewed and discussed. The outcome is as follows:

– That consideration be given to opening the scope of the project to the use of National Park Land with the bypass for Wandandian taking the same route that the power lines take from the area near the Sussex Inlet turnoff, through to Bewong River Retreat, and returning to the original highway North of the Bewong Road House. After consideration of all options, this proposed route would appear to be the preferred option for Wandandian as it has the least impact on the environment and on the community.

We look forward to future discussions on this project in the hope that our concerns and plans to foster and grow an enjoyable and robust community will not be hampered by options that are imposed on us unwillingly.

Regards,

Eve Bray Secretary

Wandandian Progress Association Inc Phone: 0408 249 546

Working in the Community- for the Community