LAST Sunday large numbers gathered in Windsor for Community Action for Windsor Bridge’s ‘war office’ grand opening.
CAWB is a community action group which was formed in response to the government’s decision to demolish and replace the existing historic Windsor Bridge by building a major arterial road through Windsor’s Thompson Square.
CAWB is made up of Hawkesbury residents from a variety of backgrounds including lawyers, engineers, financial advisers, business owners, teachers, builders, academics and families who have a strong passion for the Hawkesbury community.
CAWB’s mission “is to stop the approval and construction of any bridge (including adjacent intersections and approach roads) that diverts traffic into the Windsor town centre and historic Thompson Square precinct”.
CAWB seeks new ways to reinstate and restore the heritage value of Thompson Square and try to make it the enjoyable open civic space first envisioned by Governor Macquarie.
CAWB sees Thompson Square as a public space servicing the needs of the community, tourism and local businesses.
It believes that the proposed project will have a negative impact on the heritage of the town and local businesses and believes that “it will not meet the Hawkesbury’s long-term traffic demands, resulting in traffic congestion and queuing”.
“We plan to fight,” CAWB founder Dail Miller said in the opening speech on Sunday, while Councillor Barry Calvert said “tell the state government you don’t want the road going through our square”.
To make a statement, ‘Wild Colonial Boys’ rode their horses over the Windsor Bridge to Thompson Square (left) in protest against the new development plans.
The riders delivered the Eureka flag to CAWB representatives who then raised it over Australia’s oldest square.
The flag raising was meant as a symbol of defiance against what CAWB saw as the unyielding determination of the NSW Government to bulldoze an arterial road through the historic square.
The key message on the day was to “fight and save the bridge”.
The new CAWB office is located in Suite 1, Level 1, 68 George Street across from Thompson Square in Windsor.
For more information about the CAWB group visit the new office in Windsor or website http://cawb.weebly.com/index.html.
