ULLADULLA traders say they have been kept in the dark over the town’s new boardwalk.
Shoalhaven City Council has already called for tenders for Sections 1, 1A and 2 of the Ulladulla Walkway but nearby traders have been given little information about when it will start or what it will involve.
They are particularly angry that work completed just a couple of years ago in the vicinity of the viewing platform will be ripped up.
“It’s like a building a second storey and then knocking it off again,” Daniel Lord from Ulladulla’s Café Overboard told the Times last week.
Mr Lord said his business had suffered a 70 per cent downturn during the harbour foreshore works. He has been bracing for further disruptions during the construction of the boardwalk but fears he will now have to close his café for a period of time because of the nature and proximity of the works.
Business owners questioned a Shoalhaven City Council employee after spotting her outside Café Overboard last Wednesday.
It was only then they learned that landscaping work undertaken on top of the new toilet block would be demolished as part of the boardwalk project.
At no stage had they been advised that this would happen – despite the obvious impact on their businesses.
They also say ratepayers have a right to know what’s happening given the amount of money spent on the foreshore improvements.
They are disappointed that something that looks so good will be demolished after such a short period of time and have questioned why the foreshore project wasn’t designed with the boardwalk in mind.
Mr Lord said he recognised the importance of the boardwalk to the local community and was “all for the big picture” but added that he was disappointed that there had been little or no consultation.
He said he had originally been under the impression that work on the boardwalk wouldn’t be commencing until March next year.
He has now been told that work will commence as early as August this year and believes he may have to close his business for up to six weeks.
Ironically, in a submission to council last year, Mr Lord stressed the need for consultation to help make the project a success.
“If council could keep shopkeepers informed of developments and allow feedback for the project this will help get the job done correctly,” he wrote in September last year.
Plans for the boardwalk available over Shoalhaven City Council’s website show all of the improvements in the area of the viewing platform will be demolished.
The existing paved area, garden beds and seating will all be demolished along with the stairs leading down towards the stage area and a concrete planter box.
Alan Wealleans from Harcourts Cowleys questioned why the viewing platform hadn’t been designed correctly in the first place given the proposed boardwalk had been in the pipeline for years.
He said everyone wanted to see the boardwalk proceed but they didn’t want to see council mis-spending ratepayers’ money.
Mr Wealleans said he had asked council how much money had been spent on the improvements being demolished but officers had refused to say.
He accused council of “putting the cart before the horse” and said it should finish the boardwalk first before spending money on an entrance – particularly when council money is in such short supply and when the viewing platform continues to attract so many people.
Mr Weallans said the viewing platform had “worked really well” and people naturally gravitated towards it.
“We see it every day,” he said.
Ward 3 councillor Robert Miller told the Times this week that he found what was happening with the boardwalk extremely frustrating.
"I can't believe what they're doing," he said.
Cr Miller said it had been his biggest aim as a councillor to get the boardwalk project off the ground because of its benefits to the town as a whole.
But he said council should finish the boardwalk itself first before it looks at re-doing old projects.
Cr Miller said the area near Harcourts Cowleys looked 'superb' and simply didn't need fixing given that it had been upgraded so recently.
It said it was a "wonderful asset" and council had done a "magnificent job".
Cr Miller said it looked like council had 'money to burn' when it started re-doing old projects.
"Money is precious," he told the Times this week.
A Shoalhaven City Council spokesperson this week told the Times the proposed work formed part of the “overall strategy of DCP56”, which provides for a pedestrian walkway from the Princes Highway to Warden Street with views of the harbour.
He said the work adjacent to the shops in the Cowley’s building formed an important part of the overall walk.
The designs had been developed over the past year in consultation with ‘relevant stakeholders’ including building owner Ian Cowley.
He said tenants had been provided with the opportunity to comment on details of the proposal “which (will) primarily provide a revamp of the initial construction to integrate with the proposed new section at the rear of the properties”.
“While there is some demolition involved it is not significant and allows improved access and functionality to enhance the overall area.”
The spokesperson said every effort would be made to minimise disruption during the construction process and staff would liaise “closely” with shopkeepers.
He said once completed the project would provide a high quality facility “to the benefit of the local community”.
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