ANNOUNCING a $7.8m upgrade to the North Boambee Road in Boambee Valley which will release land for around 866 homes, Member for Coffs Harbour Gurmesh Singh and City of Coffs Harbour (CoCH) Mayor Paul Amos, said the money will be spent on raising the approaches to the bridge, and the bridge itself, out of the one-in-100-year flood levels in order to make the housing project viable.

In a joint statement on site on Friday 17 February 2023, the local Member and Mayor said the project will significantly help solve Coffs Harbour’s need for more housing.

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The project services the North Boambee Valley West Urban Release area.

The combined funding of $5.85m is delivered through the third round of the NSW Government’s Accelerated Infrastructure Fund (AIF), and $1.95m from the City of Coffs Harbour.

“The State Government is supporting Council to bring new home infrastructure to the Mid North Coast, especially here in Coffs Harbour where we definitely need more homes,” said Mr Singh.

The funding was allocated in the NSW Government’s 2022/23 budget.

“It is committed and on the way to Council who will then begin the works.

“The State Government has a role to play in helping our Council, enabling infrastructure that helps bring these houses online faster for our community,” he said.

“Coffs Harbour is a growing city, and we need to plan for future growth and that’s what this road does.”

Mayor Paul Amos said the project is part of Council’s Infill Housing Strategy.

“We’re bursting at the seams with energy and vitality at Coffs Harbour; spreading out here is a must,” he said.

“Council will be putting in $2 million from our reserves, that will be forward funded, and we’ll recoup that through developer contributions.

“This project has been on the cards for a long, long while; it’s part of our Infill Housing strategy where we build to the land we have available.

“The bypass will add to the accessibility to a lot of land, and we need to build into that availability.

“The bridge will be raised to over the level of the one-in-100-year flood level and the approach roads will butt up to that bridge so in effect the whole section will be raised.

“We have developers lined up, knocking on the door, ready to go.

“And we’ve seen some great proposals that will house a lot of people quickly and a lot of affordable housing options,” said Mr Amos.

“This is the most substantial opening up of land in this area for many years.

“It’s important we unlock the land needed for new homes and ensure there is the right infrastructure in place to support that growth long term and get people into homes faster.”

Andrew Beswick, Director of Sustainable Infrastructure at CoCH, said the timeline is to be negotiated with Transport for NSW.

“But it needs to be finished before June 2026,” Mr Beswick said.

By Andrea FERRARI