A Bega Valley Shire Councillor predicts a massive flow in affect for ratepayers following the Cuttagee Bridge decision last week.
The council voted 5-4 in favour of building a two-lane concrete structure in place of the current historic timber and steel structure.
But Greens Council Peter Hagar, who voted against the decision, said increasing traffic in the Tathra Bermagui Road is going force other costly upgrades to occur nearby.
“If you walk along Cuttagee Beach now you’ll realise how close the road is and how it is basically just sitting on sand dunes,” Councillor Haggar said.
“So that road itself becomes a concern. We know the road closes at Wopengo now with East Coast Lows and we know there’s a fairly dodgy one lane timber bridge there and there are other timber bridges along that road,” he said.
“The way we make decisions, and this isn’t council’s fault, this is the way the system is designed at all levels of government, this is called ‘pathway dependency.
“When we look we only look at replacing the bridge, we only look at the bridge itself and immediate approaches and departures. We don’t look at the road that takes you to the bridge or takes you away from the bridge.”
