Mayors request money for highway

LOOK out Anthony Albanese, four very determined North Coast mayors will soon be knocking on your door to ask for money to upgrade the Pacific Highway.

LOOK out Anthony Albanese, four very determined North Coast mayors will soon be knocking on your door to ask for money to upgrade the Pacific Highway.

The mayors of Ballina, Richmond Valley, Clarence Valley and Coffs Harbour are expected to ask for a meeting with the Federal Infrastructure Minister about the notorious stretch of the highway between Ballina and Coffs Harbour.

About 20 people die on that section every year.

Ballina Shire mayor Phillip Silver met NSW Roads Minister David Campbell this week and described it as a ‘good meeting’.

“He was very aware of the dangers on our stretch,” Cr Silver said.

“But he made the point that there does need to be more Commonwealth assistance with funding.

“So the next port of call for us will be Mr Albanese.”

The Minister, who was in Ballina last week, has agreed the highway upgrade is a ‘matter of urgency’.

Cr Silver said the four mayors would work hard to keep their concerns ‘at the front of the queue’.

“But we know that we are competing against some other very righteous projects,” he said.

Originally published as Mayors request money for highway