I move:

That this House:

(1)Acknowledges that Medlow Bath and Hartley Valley communities are now being heard by the recently elected Government, regarding their concerns about the Great Western Highway project.

(2)Thanks the Minister for Regional Transport and Roads for her prompt action in meeting with these communities and taking the time to consider and respect their opinions and requests.

(3)Commends Medlow Bath Residents Association and Hartley Valley Progress Association for their advocacy and commitment to their shared vision of improved outcomes for their communities, safer roads and the integrity of the Blue Mountains and the Hartley Valley.

The New South Wales Government has committed to defer the bulk of the Great Western Highway upgrade program, essentially the "Toole tunnel". The Government has instructed Transport for NSW to defer the program excluding the Medlow Bath and Coxs River Road projects, which are currently in delivery. The Minister for Regional Transport and Roads is across the issue following a community engagement day in the Blue Mountains and Little Hartley.

 After hearing concerns from my community about being excluded from consultation under the previous Government, the new Minister for Regional Transport and Roads asked Transport for NSW to review the Coxs River Road and Medlow Bath projects in line with community feedback. As a result, Transport for NSW refined the Coxs River Road design to reduce potential impacts on the community by, for example, further improving safety at the Baaners Lane intersection and opening the road to traffic at an 80 kilometre per hour speed limit. The Medlow Bath project was also modified after listening to the concerns of the community at a site visit. Changes included increasing the lane widths to 3.5 metres and removing a U-turn bay in Bellevue Crescent that would have required the demolition of a property. All other projects associated with the Great Western Highway upgrade program are on hold in line with recent Australian and New South Wales Government announcements. A formal review of the Great Western Highway upgrade program will be undertaken, and the Australian Government has also asked for a more detailed review of the program.

The Great Western Highway is one of Australia's most historic roads and a key east-west connection in and out of Sydney. The New South Wales Government has progressively upgraded sections of the highway over many years to make it safer and more reliable. However, there were many concerns under the previous Government, and it is important to listen to community concerns when we undertake major infrastructure. Construction is underway for the Coxs River Road upgrade, which includes upgrading part of the existing highway at Little Hartley to a four-lane divided carriageway. Having listened to the community, there will be realignment of parts of the existing highway to create a local service road and upgrades to the intersections with Browns Gap Road and Baaners Lane. However, despite a range of modifications to both upgrade programs that impact two little communities, we live in an imperfect world. For the benefit of those communities who are worried on several levels about changes that are going ahead, I put on record that I will continue to advocate for them.

I note some of the concerns for the record. The Little Hartley valley community want Transport for NSW to hold a town hall style meeting with Ertech, the contractor, to update the community and allow them to ask questions together—not one on one, with a lack of transparency, as happened under the previous Government. I am in the process of organising that town hall. They also want some Great Western Highway upgrade funds to be diverted by the Government and allocated to addressing Victoria Pass. It is now over two years since Victoria Pass was damaged. The previous Government undertook rectification and scoping works on that convict road pass but, other than that, little has happened. As we move into bushfire season, the community is concerned. They are reminding us of the vulnerabilities along both the Bells Line of Road and the Great Western Highway through the mountains, including Victoria Pass. The community tells me they are anxious to see Victoria Pass addressed and not left to continue to languish, neglected, and further deteriorate, as it has been for the previous decade.

I am working on this matter with the Minister. She is aware that I consider Victoria Pass a priority. It was not under the previous Government. The upgrade to four lanes at Medlow Bath is in delivery. Transport for NSW has prioritised Medlow Bath to address known safety concerns and improve intersection and highway access treatments, including a shared pathway and a new pedestrian bridge—this time in consultation with the local community. The station precinct upgrade including the pedestrian bridge will be integrated with the Transport Access Program. Community representatives have provided input as part of the development and finalisation of the design, and Transport for NSW is now following the Minister's direction, working closely with heritage experts to protect non-Aboriginal heritage items in Medlow Bath and to remove some of the centres, such as the Elsie Langford Centre, in a way that acknowledges people in the community. Again, I note for the record that in an imperfect world the Medlow Bath community still hold concerns. I will continue to advocate for that little hamlet, which was ignored under the previous Government.

There is noisy work happening at night using chainsaws for tree removal. That can be disturbing to a community, and so we are making sure that alternative temporary arrangements are made. Others have told me they welcome short-term pain for long-term gain in the name of safety and easing of traffic congestion. But the place looks bleak; there is a trail of damage and destruction of old trees. I will finish where I began. I will continue to listen to the community, advocate on their behalf and share their vision for safety outcomes.

...

In reply: It has been a delight to hear some sensible commentary from my colleagues. I thank the member for Cessnock and the member for Lismore for their contributions to this debate. Their efforts in listening to community and bringing those issues to this place are exemplary. For the record, I take on board a couple of the comments made by the member for Bathurst. In the last term of the former Government there were people that he chose to listen to and that he directed Transport for NSW to listen to. However, there were many people across a number of communities that he directed not to be heard.

Major infrastructure projects cannot move ahead if we do not listen to and include our communities. No- one knows better than the locals about amenity. Over the years I have made that same point about a string of 27 villages which exist within a World Heritage listed national park. We need to take onboard the amenities of those villages. When we upgrade old convict roads we also need to take onboard the concerns of constituents about what those upgrades might mean to the environment. In the former Government the member for Bathurst just wanted to get a stack of B- double trucks from the Central West to Sydney on a highway through my community, and back again faster. He did not give a hoot about my community and its amenities. It was not about the safety of the road. Everyone understands that when you load up a road and increase its capacity the road is less safe. The safety improvements that the previous Government talked about, and offered up unfunded promises on, were not about safety or caring for community.

I wish to address a couple of points made by the member for Lismore. I acknowledge that many people in my community were split over the previous Government's proposal for a tunnel. They were sold a pup. There was an unfunded promise that this tunnel would be the golden bullet that would solve all the problems around congestion. I was told by someone who worked in the department at that particular time that there would not be much change from $15 billion to create 9 kilometres of a tunnel in the mountains when there were other things we could do—moving freight to rail, improving public transport. I remember standing with a group of people and saying, "That is $15 billon for a small section of a tunnel that will actually create more problems than it fixes". The member for Lismore and her community could do with that $15 billion. If anyone can give me an argument that stacks up against that, please do so. Her community is hurting. We were talking about expanding the highway to four or six lanes and a big tunnel when her community was suffering beyond measure from losing a lot of their road infrastructure. For the record, not one person could argue against that. I commend the motion to the House.