BY LAUREN KEMPE
Singleton Council has officially approved the closure of Wallaby Scrub Rd in an extraordinary meeting held on Monday night.
The decision was based on the approved Warkworth Mine expansion, with an estimated 1, 000 daily commuters on the stretch linking Bulga and Warkworth villages.
The closure has been debated for over a year, with some members of the community in protest of the decision to shut off the access in favour of the mine expansion.
But Singleton Council’s Corporate and Community Director Anthony Egan says most of the community supported the decision.
‘Council considered the matter back in August last year, which did take into consideration the community’s views. We received 1, 600 submissions, and when you break it down, the majority of people are in support of this road closure which will enable this particular mine to continue its activities and provide employment to the local community and those outside the Singleton LGA.’
Mr Egan says alternative routed adding less than ten minutes to commute time and an official closure date will be provided to the community in the coming months.
‘Council’s in the process now of lodging the forms to enable the road closure to formally occur. We’re anticipating that’s going to take an additional month to six weeks. As we get a better indication as to where it is up to, we will be advising the community about a pending closing day, and we also have a traffic plan in place ready to go when the final approval is done.’
|
Image Credit: https://www.singletonargus.com.au/story/4155805/horse-ride-on-wallaby-scrub-roadphotos-video/ |