FRUSTRATION has been expressed by Coffs Harbour residents to a statement from Transport for NSW (TfNSW) that the refined designs of the Coffs Harbour Bypass interchanges at Coramba Road, Englands Road and Korora Hill reflect community feedback.

The new detailed design for the Coffs Harbour bypass, replacing the amended EIS design of 2019, was put on public display in January 2023 inviting community feedback.

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On 18 September 2023 the Detailed Design Consultation Summary report was released.

In its announcement, TfNSW stated the following on its website and in media releases.

“We received a strong response to our call for submissions from the public following the release of design refinements in February, with 57 unique submissions and 233 form letter copies, for a total of 290 written submissions.

“We also engaged with 171 people and organisations during eight drop-in sessions between January to February.

“One of the key themes to come from the community consultation was the desire for simplified interchanges, and these have now been included in the detailed design,” said the TfNSW statement.

The TfNSW statement said the detailed design following this consultation would deliver an improved result for the community and road users once the bypass is complete.

Speaking as a voluntary member of the Community Consultative Committee for the Coffs Bypass (CCC) and a stakeholder for the Coffs Bypass Action Group since 2019, Marina Rockett told News Of The Area, “It was not community feedback that drove the changes to the design of the Coffs Bypass interchanges as stated by the spokesperson for Transport for NSW as claimed after the release of the long-awaited Detailed Consultation Summary report in September which took seven months to finalise.

“The design has not altered one bit in the September 18 report since its release in January 2023.”

Marina said that contrary to what both TfNSW and what the Joint Venture (JV) builders are stating, “there is no way the community had any say about the ‘spaghetti’ design for the Coramba Road interchange”.

With a long history of communication with TfNSW, Marina said, ”It is a shame that TfNSW was not honest or transparent enough at the CCC meetings at the end of 2022 to disclose the huge changes they had agreed to with the JV builders to allow proper community discussion prior to the release of detailed designs by the JV builders for the Coramba Road interchange in January 2023.”

In her dealings with the community Marina said locals had believed for years that the design for the Coramba Road Interchange was as detailed in the approved Amended EIS report of 2019.

“Surely TfNSW engineers did not have the EIS design so wrong.

The refined design as shown in January has moved the interchange further north.

“Though exactly where is difficult to ascertain with different measurements being quoted,” Marina said, with increased gradients and a larger footprint, being two metres higher.

“To go south from west Coffs, instead of the EIS design of a direct left hand turn south at the interchange, we now have a design which forces traffic to head north for around 350 metres and do a loop back south which adds an extra two lanes to the footprint area.

“It was also stated that the additional travel time with the new loop design for those travelling south from west Coffs and having to travel north then do a loop back down, was five seconds.

“That is completely unreasonable,” she said.

In consulting with the community herself, Marina said it is widely suspected that the now-approved design for the Coramba Road Interchange seems to be for ease of construction for the JV builders “and will result in extra profits for the overseas companies”.

The Coffs Bypass Action Group has spent the last five years voluntarily working for the community.

“Our efforts are to get the best possible results for a bypass that is being built so close to residential areas and for the community members who will have to live with the negative impacts of the Coramba Road Interchange for decades after the builders of the bypass have packed up and left town,” Marina said.

By Andrea FERRARI