THE planning process to allow or refuse the proposed $25 million Grose River bridge has hit a snag.
The proposal by Redbank developers North Richmond Joint Venture would see a new bridge built upon land, which is part owned by Council and the Crown at Navua Reserve.
The Gazette understands the negotiations to secure the Crown land have slowed the assessment of the proposed bridge.
On June 27, Hawkesbury Council held a closed door meeting about this, and decided to extend ‘milestones’ – also sometimes called ‘trigger points’ - in the NRJV’s voluntary planning agreement with Council.
The milestones are built into the VPA, and say by the time a certain number of lots has been sold, a certain amount of money must have been put towards building the bridge.
However, because the approval process is going slowly, Council, NRJV and Roads and Maritime Services agreed to push the milestones back and buy time.
NRJV’s Jock Douglas said he was disappointed by the delays but happy that the milestones had been extended.
“We are encouraged by Council's commitment to continue to assess the application by extending the trigger dates in the Voluntary Planning Agreement to allow them more time to review the proposal,” he said.
“We look forward to working with Council and the RMS in addressing traffic congestion in the Richmond and North Richmond areas.”
As part of the VPA, NRJV is responsible for building the bridge.
However, if the proposal is refused, 95 per cent of the money allocated for the bridge would go to the RMS – to be spent in the Hawkesbury – and five per cent would go to Council.
Council is also working on a ‘plan of management’, which needs to be voted on for the project to go ahead.
In April, Hawkesbury Council’s director of city planning Matthew Owens told The Gazette the plan of management would take at least 12 months to prepare.
Roads and Maritime Services said the organisation supported Council’s decision and would work to ensure the obligations of the VPA are met.
