Dubbo mayor Stephen Lawrence, Dayne Gumley clash over bridge

Tensions within a troubled NSW council have erupted again, with a mayor attacked for listening to experts, and rivals claiming he’s not listening to locals over a key piece of infrastructure.

A dispute over the location of a proposed traffic-busting bridge has seen Dubbo Mayor Stephen Lawrence and rival councillor Dayne Gumley clash during a heated council meeting.

After the NSW Government gave Dubbo Regional Council $100,000 to look into a bridge connecting South and West Dubbo, four potential routes were proposed and examined by experts.

Dubbo councillors Dayne Gumley and Stephen Lawrence have clashed over the fate of a South Dubbo Bridge. Pictures: Ryan Young

Council met on Monday to discuss the experts findings and feedback received from community members and sporting groups, many of whom oppose construction of another bridge near their playing fields in South Dubbo.

Of the four bridge routes examined, experts estimated two bridge routes would deliver the community best bang for buck when it came to cost-benefit ratios. The routes would both see West Dubbo motorists drive off the bridge at the intersection of Tamworth and Macquarie Streets in South Dubbo.

Councillor Lawrence, along with councillors Jane Diffey, Kevin Parker, Vicki Etheridge, Anne Jones and David Grant voted to note all of the experts findings and continue investigations into three of the four potential bridge routes experts assessed.

The councillors also voted to stop investigations into one potential bridge route which would have seen West Dubbo traffic exit near Sandy Beach Road and Bligh Street in South Dubbo.Councillor’s Dayne Gumley and Greg Mohr voted against continuing investigations into the South Dubbo Bridge and called for a rethink on routes.

An artist impression showing what a South Dubbo Bridge could look like. Picture: Dubbo Regional Council

While Cr Lawrence, a former state Labor candidate, did not say what his preferred bridge route was, Cr Gumley accused him of wanting to put more traffic in South Dubbo because potential routes which would see traffic exit off a South Bridge at Tamworth Street were still being considered by council.

“It appears the Labor councillor’s preferred option is to screw the residents of South Dubbo with an influx of traffic, ruining their idyllic neighbourhood and fundamentally altering the nature of that area forever,” Cr Gumley claimed.

“What will thousands of cars flooding into their streets do to the value of their houses?”

Dubbo councillor Dayne Gumley fears more traffic will end up in residential parts of South Dubbo. Picture: Ryan Young

Cr Lawrence hit back and told the meeting there was “no substance” to concerns about increased traffic in South Dubbo.

“What hasn’t been talked about is that at the very first briefing we had on this there was very clear discussions about their being a turn left or turn right option,” Cr Lawrence said.

“Indeed you only have to look at the map of Dubbo to understand that everyone coming off that bridge would not be going into Tamworth Street … I would have thought a large percentage of people would be turning left to go into the CBD and places further, then people turning right and left into Boundary Road, Hennessy Drive and so forth.”

Cr Lawrence suggested Cr’s Gumley and Mohr were engaged in “pretty cynical, pretty transparent attempts to manipulate public opinion to arouse concern” about traffic in South Dubbo in a bid to win votes at the upcoming council election.

“All I can say to the community is if you hear a councillor opposing a South Bridge for Dubbo then you are hearing a councillor who is not putting the public interest first,” he said.

“You need to seriously think about what is motivating that councillor from a policy point of view.”

Dubbo mayor Stephen Lawrence said the cost of not building a South Dubbo Bridge would be massive. Picture: Ryan Young

After the meeting Cr Gumley told The Dubbo News that “widespread” community opposition to the potential bridge routes put out for discussion was motivating him and he denied being “anti-South Bridge full stop”.

“What I said was we need to go back to the drawing board,” Cr Gumley explained.

“It’s not a matter of me trying to create an election issue or some sort of political distrust, or arouse some sort of community anger, I’m literally acting on the wishes of the people that took the time to make submissions.

“If you ask the community for their feedback you either take it on board or you don’t ask for it at all. My priority is to find that balance between economic benefit and benefit to the city as a whole.”

HAVE YOUR SAY 💭 A bridge connecting Whylandra Street, at the Dubbo Golf Club driveway, to the intersection of Macquarie...

Posted by The Dubbo News on Saturday, July 10, 2021

When asked about evidence to support his fears potential bridge traffic would end up in residential streets of South Dubbo, Cr Gumley said the community had not seen evidence to the contrary.

“How can the community be certain on the information that’s been presented to them, that traffic won’t funnel into South Dubbo?

“There’s no evidence at all in front of them, other than what Cr Lawrence said in the meeting, that the traffic won’t end up somehow going through South Dubbo.”

Cr Lawrence said council had been discussing the need for a South Bridge for the best part of two decades and experts revealed the economic cost of not building one could be up to $7.8 billion.

Other potential bridge routes suggested were not appropriate, Cr Lawrence said.

“People talk about, for example, one much further south from Obley Road to Hennessy Drive, but that simply … would not cater for the traffic we’re concerned with.

“The idea that people who live on Minore Road are going to drive down to Obley Road, cross over Hennessy Drive and then drive back up to where they want to go is simply not realistic.”