Jervis Bay infrastructure delays stoke political fire fight as politicians trade barbs

Outspoken MP Gareth Ward has warned he could refer Shoalhaven City Council to ICAC over the controversial deferral of a multimillion dollar infrastructure project.

Outspoken independent Kiama MP Gareth Ward has warned he could refer Shoalhaven City Council to the corruption watchdog following a controversial motion postponing the sale of land for an multimillion dollar infrastructure project.

Mr Ward told The South Coast News on Friday he would be referring the council for review, but would decide over the weekend whether it would be to the Department of Local Government, or the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

The former Shoalhaven City Councillor had traded barbs with current Mayor Amanda Findley throughout the week, and claimed to have been denied access to a council briefing attended by councillors on Thursday to discuss the future of the $125 million Jervis Bay Bypass.

The project, which would see a new overpass built on the busy Princes Hwy, was thrown into doubt in June when a majority of councillors voted against the immediate sale of land for the project to Transport for NSW, opting instead to seek further information.

Mr Ward said Mayor Findley had not provided reasoning for the move, labelling the Greens leader a “dictator”.

“The culture of secrecy has skyrocketed since Labor and the Greens took control of the council,” he said.

“Mayor Findley has behaved in a reprehensible, abominable, and frankly highly unprofessional way.

“She is more interested in meeting behind closed doors than giving answers to the community about why the council chose to refuse to accept the independent recommendation of council staff to proceed with the property acquisition.”

Independent Kiama MP Gareth Ward has slammed potential delays in the Jervis Bay Bypass project. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Flavio Brancaleone

In a report submitted to councillors by council staff, it was recommended that the sale be immediately approved. Staff further warned that any deferral of the sale could set the project back as long as six months.

That delay was rebuffed by Mayor Findley, who said even if the project wasn’t introduced at the council’s next ordinary session on July 25, it would be able to proceed on time.

“This is misinformation,” she said.

“TfNSW made it very clear that there were a number of land acquisitions that they needed to complete, and that the land acquisition within the Shoalhaven was only one of a few that hadn’t finished.

“This information has been put about by the member for Kiama, who just simply can’t be trusted to do the right thing for the Shoalhaven.

“It’s political misinformation to serve his purposes for an upcoming state election.”

Mr Ward also labelled Ms Findley’s actions as being politically driven, stating that she was seeking Upper House preselection for The Greens.

Ms Findley claimed that Mr Ward had access to TfNSW information, and did not require entry into the meeting on Thursday.

His refusal, she said, was because it would make councillors feel “unsafe”.

“Gareth Ward is trying to make political mischief,” she said.

“He wasn’t invited into the room because he would have taken comments and would try and misconstrue them into the public space, just for political purposes, not for real purposes.

Transport for NSW passed an important milestone earlier this year after the planned flyover of the Princes Hwy over Jervis Bay Rd was given the green light. Picture: TfNSW

“It’s not fair for Mr Ward to think that it’s okay for him to come into a council space when I find his presence in that space unsafe because he can’t be trusted to not leave a confidential briefing and spray the contents of that briefing over the front page or across radio.”

Both Mr Ward and Councillor Paul Ell, who voted against the deferral, disagreed that the briefing was, by law, confidential.

“I’m appalled the Mayor didn’t allow not only Mr Ward but also South Coast MP Shelley Hancock to attend the briefing,” Mr Ell said.

“These briefings are not a confidential process, it’s very informal. There is no reason why, as part of the detailed briefing on this project, we cannot also take the input of our local state members and invite them to listen to the information as well.

“What does Mayor Findley have to hide?”

Mr Ell said the decision to defer the sale was rooted in environmental concerns, a belief that was backed up by Mayor Findley.

“There was concern because the State of the Environment report that was released this week showed that there’s a decline in native species all across Australia. It’s quite okay for councillors to raise their concerns,” she said.

Mr Ell argued that there wasn’t any need for further fact finding after the completion of the initial environmental report.

“There shouldn’t need to be any more specialists,” he said.

“There’s been an opportunity for people to make submissions.

“The environmental mitigation measures around threatened species for TfNSW was included in the proposal.”

If the Jervis Bay Bypass wasn’t placed on the agenda at the council’s next session on July 25 by way of a Mayoral Minute, Mr Ell said he would introduce an urgent motion, which is at the Mayor’s discretion to accept, fearing further delays.

“It’s in our hands now,” he said.

“If there’s a way to fix this and undo the damage that’s been done, we should be doing that today.”

In a statement on Friday, the Shoalhaven Business Chamber roads spokesperson Tony Emery expressed disappointment at the deferral.

“Discussions on this project are not new,” he said.

“First, there was discussion about lights, then a roundabout, and finally a decision to provide grade-separated interchange after four years of discussion about what was the best approach.”

Mr Emery said the Jervis Bay intersection was the busiest on the Princes Hwy south of Nowra, and that by upgrading it, residents and tourists would benefit from reduced delays and fewer accidents.

“The upgrade is good for the community and good for business,” he said.

Shoalhaven City Councillor Paul Ell.

“The chamber is disappointed that councillors rejected the independent staff recommendation to proceed with the sale to the state government which is required to progress the project. We would appreciate a clear explanation as to why this was done.

“This request for more information shouldn’t have come at the 11th hour and could cause major delays to what is the next biggest infrastructure project in our region.”

For Mr Ward, the deferral cast a long shadow not only onto the Jervis Bay project but future infrastructure projects, also.

“If we can’t trust Shoalhaven City Council and its Green-Labor block on a smallish project like the Jervis Bay Road Interchange, what chance have we got of building the Nowra bypass?

“There will need to be acquisitions of land for that they’ll need to be worked on with council, also.

“What sort of roadblocks are we going to expect from council on that project?”

Labor member for Gilmore Fiona Phillips and South Coast MP Shelley Hancock were contacted for comment.