When dozers moved in two weeks ago to fell trees opposite the new ambulance station, some nearby residents, along with the thousands of drivers using Ocean Drive each day, were left questioning why such a large area of bush was being destroyed.

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A big response on social media saw locals either despairing at the loss of trees; joking that it’s the new winter venue for Summernats; or correctly guessing that it is to make way for a double-lane roundabout.

“If it’s only for a roundabout, why do they need to clear that much out,” Margaret Ambrose asked News Of The Area.

“I thought it was supposed to be protected.”

Mrs Ambrose and her husband live on the Rainbow Beach side of the roadworks and can now see the traffic on busy Ocean Drive through a widening gap in the treeline.

Unlike the residents of Solomon Drive, they were not forewarned of the work.

Site foreman for Kazac Civil, Sam Chapman, said he “personally did a letter drop to everyone directly affected”.

These were considered to be the property-owners to the west of Ocean Drive.

The Wauchope construction company has been engaged by consultants King and Campbell on behalf of the developers of Rainbow Beach Estate.

The developer’s contribution partly pays for the roundabout, but it will be council infrastructure, while the clearing is on both the developer’s and council land.

This raises the question of responsibility when it comes to letting the broader community know when significant works are about to begin.

Deputy President of Revive Lake Cathie Greg Suendermann said signage at the site explaining that the work is part of an “old DA” would reach the area’s mixed population of young and old.

“Communication is mostly done by Facebook and [council’s] website is difficult to navigate,” he said.

“Council has to be more aware that the Lake Cathie community needs information and communication.”

A spokesperson for Port Macquarie-Hastings Council confirmed that the works at 1350 Ocean Drive are part of an approved 702-lot subdivision in the Rainbow Beach Estate.

The plans were publicly available for two weeks in June/July of 2016 and 90 adjoining landowners were notified.

“Council received no submissions in relation to the proposal during the exhibition period,” the spokesperson said.

“The application was determined by the State Government’s Regional Planning Panel on 15 February, 2017 [and] two submissions were received… in the lead up to [that] meeting.”

However, that was eight years ago and the landscape and population of Lake Cathie has changed significantly.

While some residents are angry from an environmental perspective, the majority simply want more than a “Roadworks Ahead” sign, such as more Council letterdrops or notices in local papers.

Speaking on behalf of the developers, Lake Cathie agent Stewart O’Brien provided this description of the work currently underway.

“The works are a roundabout to provide safe traffic access into the future stage of the estate together with access to Solomon Drive, which now has the nursing home and ambulance station,” he said.

“It will service approximately another fifteen homes plus provide access through to Forest Parkway.

“There will be traffic lights located on the intersection of Seaside Drive and Ocean Drive in the future [and at] the intersection at South Atlantic Boulevard in front of Ocean Club Resort.

“This will provide access to the Village Centre.”

In response to environmental concerns, Mr O’Brien noted that Rainbow Beach Estate was originally cleared grazing land and that there has been “a lot of time and money going to improve the site and the nature corridors”.

“[Additionally] 89.9 ha of land is being dedicated to Council as open space (including the sporting fields), and for drainage and wildlife habitat corridors, with [these] corridors actively rehabilitated and regenerated since 2007.”

By Sue STEPHENSON