The chamber is looking to collaborate with an amalgamation of other groups who are working together to make sure the Milton/Ulladulla bypass is the best for the community.

Chamber Vice President Matt Dell is the group's representative on the panel and has a great understanding of the bypass issue.

He was able to provide the Milton Ulladulla Times with an insight on where the chamber stands on this most important issue.

He also talked about something that has not been raised much in the debate thus far - its link into Ulladulla.

Mr Dell and the chamber offer up some detailed views on the bypass.

Basically, the chamber and many others want to make sure the best bypass for the community is delivered.

Much of the debate has been focused on the preferred option coming out near Burrill and Tabourie - but what would its implications be for other local towns and roads?"

"For example, forgetting where the bypass joins the highway further down south, there are also issues on where the bypass links into existing roads through the town [Ulladulla]," Mr Dell said.

"A key point for the business chamber would be, for example, is where does the road link back into Ulladulla?

"So on the current map, the feeder road looks to be rejoining Ulladulla in Green Street."

He said if the bypass links to Ulladulla via Green Street then what needs to be accounted for is the fact it [Green Street] is a residential street that also has a daycare centre, a primary school and is the is back end of the high school.

"It also goes over a significant speed hump outside the primary school and feeds off down to a somewhat narrow roundabout on the corner of Green and St Vincent Streets," he said.

"So are going to send all of the large heavy transport into Ulladulla, like the trucks that go into the supermarkets, past the school every day?

"All of that traffic going from Milton to Ulladulla and back every day down that street does not sound ideal to me."

He suggests further questions need to be raised and answered.

The questions include: Where does it link? What does traffic flow around town look like for that?

"If it's not going to join up in Green Street and join up further up for example in Deering Street then you have other issues that come in," Mr Dell said.

"All these feeder roads where this traffic comes down do not belong to the bypass or the State Government - they are looked after by the council.

"So if you are going to say 'okay so Green Street is not suitable and needs to be upgraded to suit that traffic' - then where is the council budget for that? They don't have one."

He said the link aspect to Ulladulla was one of the areas the chamber is worried about.

The chamber vice president said concerns about linkage could be found in other points around the town, including Mollymook.

"Do we want all of this traffic potentially bypassing Milton and flowing back into Mollymook? All of these holidaymakers going to Mollymook, where do they leave the bypass and flow back into the domestic streets? Is it going into an area that is not ready for that? What is council going to do about that?" he asks.

"There is a lot of devil in the detail as I keep saying."

Mr Dell added the suggestion that you could build a big bypass and take an "everything will work approach" was not a viable option.

According to the chamber representative, a lot of effort needs to be made to sort out the various issues associated with the bypass.

He suggests the problem needs to be solved now not later.

"Well that is too bad if the State Government and RMS have ripped through and thrown this bypass in the wrong place and left council, businesses and residents with a mess to sort out," he said.

"The chamber is really trying to balance its stance of we do really need a bypass and it will be good for business but we do not want just any old bypass - we don't want something that is not going to be suited for the purpose and create more issues than it solves."

The chamber representative does not want an unsafe bypass that leads traffic into the wrong area of town.

He stresses the right decision needs to be made.

"We want to get it right and get it right quickly because business, in particular, feels the pitch from not having a bypass is causing us," he said.

"However, it's better to get it right once rather than getting it wrong and paying the price for years to come.

"We are not going to get a second bite at this cherry I would not think.

"Yes we do want it fast - yesterday if possible - but we do not want to waste the money on something that will create more problems."

Talking from the chamber's point of view and from a sheer business perspective, they want the bypass.

Mr Dell used the Berry bypass as a model of success.

"Clearly the Berry bypass has taught us that after a few little hiccups and teething periods, the bypass is good for business," he said,

"We are strongly in favour of a bypass and think it will be fabulously good for business."

He said the current traffic congestion puts people off from coming to areas like Milton and Ulladulla.

"We have lost a bit of our small-town feel because the highway is so choked," he said.

"We feel extremely confident, while some people will go past the town and not come in, that the Berry experience tells us that overall business or most businesses will thrive after the bypass.

"Businesses, in general, are strongly in favour of the bypass."

He added again that "the devil is in the detail"."

As a business chamber our stance is simple - the bypass is good for business and we would like one," he said.

Working with the bypass amalgamation group will hopefully lead to some of the issues being sorted out, according to the chamber representative.

"There are a lot of things for each of those groups to consider," Mr Dell said.

"While we are all talking to each other none of us [the local groups] are the decision-makers and jointly we are all trying to give our feedback to the RMS.

"There is a lot of common ground we can agree on.

"The chamber initially had a positive view on the preferred option and they are taking into consideration the issues being raised by the likes of the Burrill and Tabourie resident associations.

"The problem is, and credit to the residents' group who have brought this to our attention, is that you actually need to look at more detail to see if that option is really viable or how strong the option really is," he said.

He added that the preferred option does not allow for the 2040 plan for the highway plans which is to have dual lanes from Sydney to the border and the bypass is meant to align with the 20-year plan.

"Option one does not allow for the highway upgrade from Burrill south," he said.

He suggests while another option coming out west of the lake that was to come out south of Burrill or ideally south of Tabourie would cost more but it could better align with the overall 2040 plans.

"There will be hidden or additional costs, if the current proposal is accepted, to upgrade the highway," he said.

"If I would look at the economics of it and say which is the preferred option and one of the reasons is to have the current proposal is that it's already costed and it's cheaper then that is actually a false argument."

The chamber is in the process of getting a seat at the table with a bypass constitution group and Mr Dell is impressed with what is being brought forward.

He said the people in the group are passionate about their association's individual stances on the bypass.

"When we had a meeting to discuss all the commonalities and the differences it was really well-conducted," he said.

"I can say that I was really impressed by the knowledge, the effort and by the professionalism of the people in that group.

"For all the right reasons they are trying to represent their own individual areas or members and they are really putting in excellent thought and going about it in the proper and detailed way.

"The chamber is pleased to get the opportunity to be in contact with the other groups.

"We don't agree on everything but there are some things that we do agree on and better to be in the room talking to each other about it than being apart," he said.

He added the groups involved with the bypass issue were doing things in the right way.

Community involvement is another aspect the chamber representative supports.

"I would encourage anyone who has a viewpoint to give the feedback to the RMS directly with your point of view and your reasons why," he said.

"We are in favour of a bypass and would like it to be as soon as possible," he stressed once more.

"The traffic congestion, especially in and around Milton, is not good for anybody. It's not good for business, it's not good for residents, not good for visitors and it's not particularly safe.

"A bypass of Milton sooner rather than later is really necessary.

"However, we do not want to rush into making a bad decision."

"It's been a hard 12 months or so down this neck of the woods - well it's been hard for businesses all over with COVID I guess," Mr Dell said.

"We got COVID on the back-end of the fires of course. However, having said that as a general statement, the town is thriving even within the limitations that COVID is putting on us.

"You can get a hotel room or an Airbnb and all the businesses if they are not returning maximum turnover would be only because COVID is getting in their road.

"There is a lot of people moving to town and you can't buy a house or rent a house - so the Southern Shoalhaven and maybe the Shoalhaven all together is really thriving and it's a really exciting time,

"The bypass is going to be the icing on the cake but only if we get it right - to be honest."