Letter to the Editor

I read with interest the article in your last newspaper on the replacement of Cedar Party Bridge on Wingham Road beside the towns pool.

I laughed when you reported that Council at Community Meeting had mentioned the  Bridge replacement options. For I attended all of those meeting and they are always a broad brush approach to Council’s working and operational plans. At meeting end it’s lets get out of here before we are ambushed attitude. The Bridge replacement was brought up as you reported but only to mention the possibility of forming a working committee and that the planning dollars in grant money was sitting waiting to be used, all old news.

I think a better plan for a new bridge would be a new 1.2 km road and bridge from a roundabout at Youngs Rd, then a new formed road and Cedar Party Creek bridge to Comboyne Rd on the town side of the Racecourse. This new road would fix the real hazard of Youngs Rd traffic turning onto Wingham, new road and bridge constructed without interfering with traffic flow to town or the town pool. The land needed for bridge and road is currently up for sale so the owner maybe receptive to offers from Council. The new access removes major truck movements from the CBD and new Bridge ends up near industrial estate via a new roundabout. This links up through Comboyne Rd to Queen Rd then existing rail overpass to Moon St through well formed roads that links up well for transport. The positives for it are no Pool closure, traffic out of CBD, no disruption to town during construction, truck traffic to industrial estate, no traffic lights needed, no rail gate crossing, current bridge remains for light traffic only and using the existing road to Youngs roundabout another access to town.

But as your mentioned the plans are already in place and common sense rules do not apply and who needed’s a pool anyway.

Geoff Pettett

Wingham