CAWB's Response to Mr John Miller, Hawkesbury Gazette, 29 July, 2015
Dear Editor,
Mr. Miller accuses CAWB of ‘misrepresenting the true facts’ yet the examples he cites have been proven to be wrong time and time again.
CAWB says, quite correctly, the Government will bulldoze a new arterial road through Thompson Square. CAWB will cease saying this when the government issues a construction contract banning the use of all heavy machinery. Until then we reserve the right the talk about bulldozing, pile driving and jackhammering. We will continue to describe the consequences as the destruction of the Square’s heritage values as this is consistent with the government’s own independent heritage report. Heritage buildings will be damaged due to vibrations and noise attenuation projects.
Mr. Miller’s reference to ‘returned to original size’ has no credibility. Thompson Square is not just the “green bit”. His comments show a surprising lack of understanding of what Thompson Square actually is, let alone its heritage significance.
His ‘original road’ claim was proven to be false some years ago yet he trots it out again. The Government's own independent heritage consultant has debunked Mr. Miller's claim. The original road was “Punt Hill Road”. The Option One arterial road does not follow any historical road alignment accessing the bridge.
The planned arterial road goes through Thompson Square. How this can be described as bypassing Windsor, unless Thompson Square and The Peninsula are no longer part of Windsor?
There was no silent vote on Windsor Bridge. RMS documents show they received a petition with 600 signatures from Mr. Miller's group. CAWB has collected nearly 30,000 signatures.
It is not CAWB’s fault the government developed a third rate plan. Threatening loss of funding if the third rate plan is not accepted is bullying: “take this bad plan or you get nothing” is a particularly nasty piece of coercion.
Mr. Miller claims the proposed bridge will provide access for “floods up to under 10 metres” (sic). But how do you get to this bridge? It’s not much use when Wilberforce road is cut at 8 metres, Gorricks lane at 7 metres and the road from McGraths Hill cut at 6 metres.
Standing firm and demanding a quality solution is standing up for all residents of the Hawkesbury, particularly those on the western side of the river. Given the Premier, according to Mr Miller, now has funds available to deliver “a high flood-free road joining Putty Road, by-passing Windsor, well before Thompson Square”, it is time the government abandons Option One, builds the bypass and renovates the historic Windsor Bridge for light and local traffic, thereby doubling river crossing capacity in the vicinity of Windsor.
Read Mr Miller's original letter here....
Mr. Miller accuses CAWB of ‘misrepresenting the true facts’ yet the examples he cites have been proven to be wrong time and time again.
CAWB says, quite correctly, the Government will bulldoze a new arterial road through Thompson Square. CAWB will cease saying this when the government issues a construction contract banning the use of all heavy machinery. Until then we reserve the right the talk about bulldozing, pile driving and jackhammering. We will continue to describe the consequences as the destruction of the Square’s heritage values as this is consistent with the government’s own independent heritage report. Heritage buildings will be damaged due to vibrations and noise attenuation projects.
Mr. Miller’s reference to ‘returned to original size’ has no credibility. Thompson Square is not just the “green bit”. His comments show a surprising lack of understanding of what Thompson Square actually is, let alone its heritage significance.
His ‘original road’ claim was proven to be false some years ago yet he trots it out again. The Government's own independent heritage consultant has debunked Mr. Miller's claim. The original road was “Punt Hill Road”. The Option One arterial road does not follow any historical road alignment accessing the bridge.
The planned arterial road goes through Thompson Square. How this can be described as bypassing Windsor, unless Thompson Square and The Peninsula are no longer part of Windsor?
There was no silent vote on Windsor Bridge. RMS documents show they received a petition with 600 signatures from Mr. Miller's group. CAWB has collected nearly 30,000 signatures.
It is not CAWB’s fault the government developed a third rate plan. Threatening loss of funding if the third rate plan is not accepted is bullying: “take this bad plan or you get nothing” is a particularly nasty piece of coercion.
Mr. Miller claims the proposed bridge will provide access for “floods up to under 10 metres” (sic). But how do you get to this bridge? It’s not much use when Wilberforce road is cut at 8 metres, Gorricks lane at 7 metres and the road from McGraths Hill cut at 6 metres.
Standing firm and demanding a quality solution is standing up for all residents of the Hawkesbury, particularly those on the western side of the river. Given the Premier, according to Mr Miller, now has funds available to deliver “a high flood-free road joining Putty Road, by-passing Windsor, well before Thompson Square”, it is time the government abandons Option One, builds the bypass and renovates the historic Windsor Bridge for light and local traffic, thereby doubling river crossing capacity in the vicinity of Windsor.
Read Mr Miller's original letter here....
