Where to build the upgraded Wells Crossing to Iluka Rd section of the Pacific Highway is a decision with huge
consequences for the Clarence Valley.
Despite the fact that the upgrade of this section of Pacific Highway may affect 400ha of high-value fauna habitat,
Endangered Ecological Communities (EECs) and 80 Threatened Species, the Route Options Development Report (RODR)
used to justify the RTA's four possible routes is unbelievably scanty compared to those for other smaller, less problematic
highway upgrade areas.
The recent gutting of the NSW Environmental Planning & Assessment (EP&A) Act leaves very few
avenues open for public input (no EIS required) or appealing the final decision.
The routes on the attached map can be grouped as:
At the VMW, it was decided that only two routes were worth further investigation:
Why is Orange so expensive?
The RTA wants the new highway to be above the 1-in-20 year flood level, so it will need to be
raised 2-3m where it crosses the floodplain – requiring cubic kilometres of fill!
There are fears that any change to the banks of
the Clarence will cause floodwaters to back up into Grafton or Maclean.
Given the huge problems of building for flood immunity, why not simply accept that the Pacific Highway will be flooded for a
few days every 5 years or so, and use the New England Highway or Summerland Way as a flood bypass route?
Flooding in the eastern study area is less well understood, and RTA is unable to say whether Firth Heinz Rd will remain a
flood bypass route if an eastern route is built.
Safety Upgrades not a 6-lane Motorway!
RTA figures show that 65-70% of traffic on the existing highway is Grafton-local traffic. If an eastern route is chosen, only
30-35% of traffic will use it. The Grafton-local traffic will be forced to continue using the existing highway, which will then
need upgrading as well. RTA is proposing a wire rope median strip at a cost of $2million/km.
As most traffic will continue coming to Grafton, RTA expects that Orange would reduce fatalities by 67%. Other options
would only reduce fatalities by 31-33%, i.e. the eastern options would have TWICE the fatality rate of Orange.
To increase the Green route's share of traffic and make it more attractive to tollway builders, RTA is now investigating building an interchange at Pillar Valley which would capture the Wooli, Minnie Water and some Tucabia traffic. This would be devastating for Pillar Valley:- a footprint 4 times wider, more noise, smell, social disruption, petrol stations, fast food outlets etc. Wooli & Minnie Water, two of the last quiet, old-fashioned holiday destinations left on the NSW north coast would feel the pressure for more development and higher prices.
A century of development
There are major problems will all four routes, so Clarence Valley Council and residents asked the RTA to investigate the
feasibility of using the Summerland Way corridor. This route would also save precious habitat around Woodburn and other
northern sections which the RTA has marked for destruction. The Minister is considering the report.
Public Pain for Private Profit?
When will this Motorway be built? Given all Governments' reluctance to spend money, it is likely (Sydney's Cross City
Tunnel debacle notwithstanding) that such a huge infrastructure project would have be built as a tollway by a Public-Private
Partnership (PPP). The Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) which is lobbying for tollways, counts among its members RTA,
NRMA and SKM (RTA's consultant on our section of Pacific Highway upgrade).
Will our valley be cut in two so that some transnational Labor party donor can make bigger profits?
There is no data on noise-affected dwellings on the existing Pacific Highway.
How many of the 225 dwellings RTA counts as being noise affected by the Orange route either already are noise affected or
will demolished by the new motorway? RTA/SKM have not done these studies yet. They were considered too expensive.
RTA continues to look selectively at only maximum noise levels in the EPA guidelines, ignoring the fact that X dB increase in
noise is much more annoying in a quiet environment than in a noisy one. There are 450 houses within 2km of the eastern
routes. Contrary to RTA figures, many more people will be noise affected on these routes than on Orange.
Any of the 3 eastern options will bypass Grafton by about 30km to the North and 15km South, condemning it to die as our
regional centre.
Where to build another Harwood bridge to take the proposed two new lanes of traffic? RTA are looking downstream of the
existing bridge, presumably past the sugar mill.
Rail not Road!
Looking at the bigger picture, the world is facing two major crises: climate change and the price/availability of oil.
Sooner or later (too late) we will be forced to cut down on road transport to reduce greenhouse gases.
We have now used half Earth's known oil reserves - the easy-to-extract half. How long till we can no longer afford to burn oil
for road transport when it is needed as a raw material in every aspect of our petrochemical-dependent lifestyle?
Rail is the obvious way to future-proof our transport industry.
Timeline
What can I do?
Write a Letter to the Editor. Letters to The Daily Examiner can also be submitted online.
Write/Ring/Email Minister Eric Roozendaal:
Highway to Hell through Heaven on Earth
Western - Orange which follows existing highway, bypassing Grafton by 10km North and 5km South.
Eastern - Purple, Green & Red which cut more directly from Wells Crossing to Harwood
* Orange, and
* a modified Green option which follows the Red route north of Gulmarrad. Following the Purple route south of Pillar Valley will also be considered.
has squeezed the last 100 Eastern Coastal Emus into this corner of almost-untouched bush. The
eastern half of the study area is is their last stand.
RTA doesn't know how to build ecological mitigation structures for emus. Nobody does. It has never been done.
They don't know where to put them, how many of them would be needed or if they will even work
They don't know how much should be added to the eastern routes' costings to build them.
These Emus are iconic of the 80 other Threatened Species which will be affected by an eastern route.
Oct 2004 Project announced
Feb 2005 Routes were developed and costed but not announced
Apr 2005 First series of ecological surveys done
Oct 2005 Routes announced. Route Options Development Report (RODR) released.
Nov 2005 Second series of ecological surveys done
Mar 2006 Value Management Workshop (VMW) couldn't agree on a route
June 2006 Minister will announce the route to be built.
Add your support to the online petition to Minister Roozendall here. (Pacific Hwy WC2IR - No Eastern Route)
Email:Enquiries.roads@roozendaal.minister.nsw.gov.au
Aussie Post:
Governor Macquarie Tower, Level 30, 1 Farrer Place, SYDNEY NSW 2000
Phone: 9228 3535