Community involvement

The RTA considers a meaningful and engaging community consultation program as an essential component of the Gerringong to Bomaderry Princess Highway upgrade.

The project’s consultation program aims to inform and engage the whole community in a constructive, transparent and fair process. It encourages public participation at each stage of the project, including the preferred option selection, the Environmental Assessment and concept design.

Information Resources

The following list provides a summary of the communication and consultation tools established for use across the life of the project.

Project office

The project office is a shopfront located at Broughton Court, Shop 3, 113 Queen Street, Berry. The project office will remain open throughout the project and community members are encouraged to drop in to discuss issues or concerns with a project team member. For the latest opening times, go to Contact Us.

Project information line – 1800 506 976

A project information line has been established so members of the community can call 1800 506 976 (free of charge) to speak with a member of the project team during business hours. If the phone is unattended, community members can leave a message and a project team member will return the call.

Email address

A dedicated project e-mail address has been established for community members to ask questions and submit concerns. The project email address is Gerringong_to_Bomaderry@aecom.com.

Email alerts

Regular emails alert subscribed community members to updated information on the Gerringong to Bomaderry Princes Highway upgrade website. Please send us an email if you wish to subscribe.

Website

The project website has been established to provide an overview of the project, latest information, document resources, display locations and contact information.

Detailed reports

A number of reports and studies are available for download from the Document Links page of this website. These documents outline how route and access options were identified, and the major constraints and potential impacts of each.

Community updates

Community updates, newsletters and correspondence are distributed throughout the project to provide information about the latest project developments. All updates are listed on the Document Links page under Community Updates.

A project database records all correspondence, including contact details and issues raised during the life of the project.

Advertisements

Newspaper advertisements are placed in local papers to notify the community of important activities throughout the project. Advertisements will generally be placed in the Kiama Independent, Illawarra Mercury, South Coast Register, Lake Times, Koori Mail, National, Indigenous Times, Deadly Vibe In-Vibe, The Land, Berry Town Crier, and Illawarra Advertiser.

Community Displays

A number of display periods are held throughout the life of the project to seek community feedback and comment on the proposed upgrade. Displays are held in a range of locations across the study area and include staffed and unstaffed displays where the community can view display materials and speak to members of the project team.

Community information sessions, public workshops, targeted focus groups and interest group meetings are held to provide information to community members and gain an understanding of issues and concerns. In addition, a number of face-to-face meetings are held with individuals and/or proprietors of potentially directly affected properties and businesses.

Community feedback and submissions

During options display periods, a range of methods are used to collect feedback with the aim of making participation more accessible for a range of community members. Community members and stakeholders are able to provide feedback through interviews with project team members, feedback forms and written submissions.

Submissions reporting on community consultation undertaken to date is located on the Document Links page.

Value management

Value management is an important part of the decision-making process for preferred option and access option selection. Workshops are conducted by an independent facilitator and involve the consideration of assessment criteria against functional (engineering and design), environmental, social and economic constraints and opportunities.
Workshop participants include representatives from government agencies, the transport industry, local council, the Aboriginal community and other community members. Community involvement in these workshops is encouraged and selection of participants is made by lodging an expression of interest to the project team.

Value management study reports are available under the Reports heading on the Document Links page.

Specific Information Requests

The RTA will continue to provide regular project progress updates to provide ongoing information to the community through a number of channels. From time to time sections of the community also ask the RTA for specific information. When possible, in the interests of equity and transparency, the RTA seeks to make this information available to the wider community by posting it under the Community Information Requests heading on the Document Links page.