Roger Ball Fingal Bay,opinion on Fingal ByPass News Of The Area Opinion by News Of The Area - Modern Media - November 9, 2017 Dear News Of The Area, COMMENTS by Paul Attard, (Opinion in Bay News Of The Area 2 November 201), in my opinion contain a lot of self-interest. Modern Media: Advertise with News Of The Area and you get your ad in 1) in Print, 2) on the News Website (like this ad), and 3) on our Social Media news site. A much more efficient way to advertise. Reach a HUGE audience for a LOW price TODAY! Call us on 02 4983 2134. Or media@newsofthearea.com.au Or CLICK FOR ADVERT QUOTE To his credit he is willing to be convinced otherwise. Might I suggest the following which might help his dilemma? Firstly, the current route from Final Bay to Salamander and Taylors Beach shopping precincts involves a 30 to 40 minutes return drive respectively over a Zig Zag course under very restrictive speed limits. The proposed route I estimate would be more than halved and time involved more so reduced. This route would also be undertaken by most of the Shoal Bay residents travelling to that destination. An added advantage is the reduction in traffic via the Shoal Bay and Nelson Bay bottlenecks. Regarding road kills, I have observed more per kilometre along Government Road, Shoal Bay than the wire enclosed portions of Nelson Bay, Anna Bay roads. (These include Water birds, Echidnas, Pythons, etc,). As regards the suggestion of water evacuation of Fingal Residents, particularly during busy periods when the caravan park alone hosts 3,000 plus residents I feel would be ludicrous in terms of capability and efficiency. Mr Attard has exposed his lack of knowledge regarding the link road as the portion of carriageway between Fingal and Shoal Bay passes through the only current real bush fire danger area and this situation will still exist if the proposed route is completed. The alternative expenditure indicates self-interest suggesting improvements to the likes of The Hospital, Light rail Shoal Bay to the airport and Newcastle. (No mention of Fingal Bay), costs which would be markedly more than the $50 to $100 million he objects to spending. Our Council has directed a lot of expenditure to areas other than the extreme eastern end of the peninsular. Much of the money that is spent is compulsory as it is drawn from the profits of the Council run caravan parks. How about some of our rates being spent on our locality. Roger Ball Fingal Bay
With such a large proportion of funding for Fingal By-pass to come from Federal & State governments, completing the Bobs Farm turnoff to Lemon Tree Passage roundabout should receive priority. Absolutely thousands of people use that road every day and if there is an accident on that section, there is no alternate route to use. Once that is done, then go ahead with Fingal By-pass but in the meantime the Fingal Bay beach offers an alternative to evacuating via road in case of bushfire. I agree that far too much has been spent in Central and West Wards to the detriment of East Ward over the last 8 years or so. Reply
