Blue Mountains Mayor, Mark Greenhill, has welcomed the NSW Government’s announcement of a new taskforce to coordinate support for Great Western Highway communities affected by the closure of the transport corridor.
The Great Western Highway Community Coordination Taskforce, a whole-of-government initiative, will be chaired by the NSW Reconstruction Authority and Transport for NSW to streamline support to those impacted by the highway’s prolonged closure.
“This announcement is a step forward in ensuring that reopening the Great Western Highway – the main road connecting the Blue Mountains with the Central West – is being treated as the highest possible priority,” said Mayor Greenhill.
“The highway has significant economic and social importance. Every day it remains closed places enormous pressure on local roads not designed for this level of traffic.
“The closure is taking a heavy toll on locals and businesses across the Mountains, particularly villages like Mount Victoria and Blackheath, whose connection to the Central West is pronounced.”
NSW Transport closed the eastbound lane of the Mitchells Causeway and began round the clock monitoring, and geotechnical investigations after finding a defect on 5 March. Three days later, Transport crews discovered further serious stress fractures forming on westbound lanes of the Causeway.
NSW Minister for Roads, Jenny Aitchison said the NSW Reconstruction Authority’s coordinating role in recovery makes them the ideal agency to support the whole-of-government response for the disruption.
“This is a serious disruption that is having an impact on community, business, freight – this is why our response must be broader than the road itself; we want the community to help inform our response,” she said.
“At the same time, we are making sure the broader community impacts are being addressed, including for small businesses, tourism operators, schools, freight and essential services through this whole of Government response.
“This is a serious geotechnical failure on an essential connection and people deserve clear, regular and honest updates, and that is exactly what we are committed to providing.”
The Taskforce will provide a single point of contact for those affected to raise issues with the NSW Government and enable direct collaboration between state agencies to ensure support can be directed where it’s needed most, said the Minister.
It will include representatives from NSW Government agencies, local councils, industry and community stakeholders to ensure government decision-making is informed by the needs of residents and businesses.
“Blue Mountains City Council looks forward to having a seat at the table, to ensure that our community is supported, consulted and regularly updated during this challenging time,” said Mayor Greenhill.
The inaugural meeting of the Taskforce will be held tomorrow (20 March).
