Transport for NSW plans to build an 8 kilometre long, 5 metre high concrete landbridge across the Moruya riverflats. It will be 4 lanes wide with traffic travelling at 100kms per hour. This bypass will be up to 2½ kilometres away from town and will only have on-and-off ramps at the start and finish. It will have a huge impact on people’s homes, prime agricultural land, local businesses and the sensitive environment of our beautiful riverflats.
moruya bypass preferred strategic corridoor


We recognise that Moruya needs a bypass, but there are much better alternatives which are shorter and less damaging.

We believe that Moruya deserves the best bypass possible, after all we will have to live with it for decades to come.

What we think

The way in which Transport for NSW has handled the Moruya bypass project has been disappointing and enormously frustrating:

 
  • the timing for the commencement of the project was awful coming straight after the bushfires and at the start of COVID
  • there has been little genuine community consultation
  • the whole selection process for the preferred route has been secretive with important information being withheld from the community
  • there have been no detailed technical investigations or costings of final short-listed options to justify the selection of a preferred route
  • negotiations with affected landholders have been untimely and insensitive
  • the whole project is being driven by election cycles which does not allow sufficient time for the community to properly consider all the route options and choose the one that is best for us

What we think

The way in which Transport for NSW has handled the Moruya bypass project has been disappointing and enormously frustrating:

 
  • the timing for the commencement of the project was awful coming straight after the bushfires and at the start of COVID
  • there has been little genuine community consultation
  • the whole selection process for the preferred route has been secretive with important information being withheld from the community
  • there have been no detailed technical investigations or costings of short-listed options to justify the selection of the preferred route
  • negotiations with affected landholders have been untimely and insensitive
  • the whole project is being driven by election cycles which does not allow sufficient time for the community to properly consider all the route options and choose the one that is best for us

What the community is telling us

(use arrows to scroll for more statements from the petition)
  • ‘Each holiday when we stay in Moruya we comment on the stunning farmlands to the east of the village. This structure and resolution to by-pass the town could well be the death of Moruya as a holiday destination for us’.
  • ‘This decision has major ramifications for all of Moruya and some more than others. There is a big local groundswell of opinion urging more community consultation and debate.’
  • ‘Such a stretch of concrete over rural land seems a poor choice of route. Surely there is a better route with some more thought. The locals are justifiably upset…please stop and rethink with more consultation’.
  • ‘This has been rolled out under cover of COVID and a culture of misinformation and lack of answers to questions’.
  • ‘Consultation means listening to feedback and taking concerns on board! We are not being heard!’
  • ‘I support a shorter route which has the least impact on agricultural land and wetlands. I am not happy with the outcome of the decision for the Moruya bypass and believe the community have not been given accurate information’.
  • ‘Please reconsider the Orange route and provide for a collaborative community process that is well publicised in our community. I am particularly concerned about environmental impacts in our already bushfire impacted area, and would like to see unnecessary clearing minimised in the bypass plan’.
  • ‘The Purple option is the realistic route to consider. As a small business owner in Moruya it is important that Moruya is noticed from the bypass’.
  • ‘The impact on our local environment and properties is important to me. This project has not included or involved local people in its design’.
  • ‘Maybe the money saved building the shorter route could be spent upgrading the Araluen Rd. Thereby providing this area with a much needed alternative route from Canberra to the coast, if the Kings highway is closed’.
  • ‘Please use the shorter route and use the money saved to build a fully equipped Moruya hospital’.
  • ‘Shorter route saves money and goes past the hospital, it is an obvious decision’.
  • ‘Our river flats are Moruya. A shorter route causing much less destruction and costing much less has to be a better answer’.

We need answers

 
  • Why did Transport for NSW choose a bypass route which will have the greatest impact on people, properties, prime agricultural land and the Moruya environment?
  • Where is the consultation report summarising community feedback on Transport for NSW’s route options which they originally promised to provide to us back in June 2021?
  • What was the point of the community consultation if Transport for NSW had already decided on a preferred bypass route and was talking to landholders about acquiring their land?
  • Why won’t Transport for NSW answer our questions and provide us with all of the information justifying the reasons for selecting their preferred bypass route over other short-listed options?
  • Why isn’t Transport for NSW listening to the community who overwhelmingly oppose their preferred route and want more time and information to consider other options?
  • Why the rush to start work on the preferred bypass route before community has had time to properly consider all of the options?
 
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    Petition Status

    last updated: March 2022

    900

    Signatures Collected