Road realignment not endorsed

I wish to respond to a letter published in the "Forum" on May 6 (Stephen Laming, Horsfield Bay) as it appears to have resulted in unnecessary concern and some confusion for residents of Horsfield Bay.

In the letter in question, Mr Laming has chosen to comment in detail upon one of the possible options for upgrading Woy Woy Rd discussed at a recent value management study involving community and council participants as if it is an endorsed council proposal.

Council has in fact endorsed in-principle a proposal not involving the realignment of Woy Woy Rd through the bends near Horsfield Rd.

The endorsed proposal would actually bypass this locality via a new road through the Brisbane Water National Park.

There has been some preliminary investigations undertaken of the option of realigning the bends in Woy Woy Rd near Horsfield Rd as a possible short-term improvement.

However, no options for such short-term works have been considered by council at this time.

In his Forum letter, Mr Laming has sought to develop a detailed criticism of the option of realigning the bends near Horsfield Rd proposal based upon engineering, environmental and other concerns despite the fact that a detailed design for the project does not exist.

As a consequence his criticisms are not only presumptive that it is a proposal council may eventually support, but also presumptive of the shortcomings of its detail.

You may be assured that any proposal as significant as the possible realignment of Woy Woy Rd would be the subject of a full and balanced assessment of options in association with all community stakeholders.

Cr Robert Bell, Mayor of Gosford