[Forum] In response to Mr Scot MacDonald’s letter in the Peninsula News edition 444, it needs to be clear that this was a problem created by the NSW Liberal Government.
The commitment to build the Woy Woy Underpass was an election commitment by the O’Farrell Liberals in 2011. The project was first mooted during the 2011 State Government election campaign; the original estimated cost was around $30 million with a completion date of 2015. A total of $16 million has already been spent on the project including the $6 million pedestrian underpass at Rawson Rd and $10 million in design and earthworks at the base of Bulls Hill. It was Mr McDonald’s Liberal Government that canned the project.
As for his invite to sit down and work on costings, designs etc, surely as the government’s most senior representative in the region, he knows that that has already been done. What is needed is a commitment to actually fund the work and provide what the people of the Peninsula want, a replacement for the dangerous railway crossing where deaths have occurred. Member for Gosford Ms Liesl Tesch campaigned on delivering the underpass and, if elected, a Labor Government will complete the job.
Liberal Members were elected on promises such as the Woy Woy Underpass and stopping the Wallarah 2 Coal mine in my electorate. They back-flipped on these promises. It’s time for Mr MacDonald to work to deliver the necessary funding instead of blaming Labor for Liberal broken commitments. Labor understands the project is expensive but necessary, and we will reprioritise $2.2 billion wasteful spending on Sydney Stadiums to important local infrastructure such as this.
Email, 6 Jun 2018 David Harris, Member for Wyong