Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull, is pleased that tenders to replace the Thurra River Bridge have finally been opened by the State Government, more than three and a half years after it was destroyed by fire.
“While I remain very annoyed it has taken this long and the bridge will not be finished until late 2025, it is nevertheless an important step,” he said.
“Quite understandably, many locals were rightly starting to wonder after all this time if the government planned to rebuild the bridge and restore access to the Thurra River campground and Point Hicks.
“Having met with Departmental representatives at Parliament last sitting week, I am advised that tenders will close mid-September, a contractor will be in place by December and work will start soon after.
“The advice I have received is that it will be an 18-24 month build, so the completion date has been pushed out to late 2025.
“While this will be almost six years after it was destroyed, which is completely unacceptable, we will at least see some movement in the next six months.
“One of the issues is the bridge over the Little Thurra needs to be strengthened to take the weight of the machinery required to fix the major bridge. There were some community concerns that it needed to be replaced, but I am now advised it requires only strengthening, which can be undertaken within a matter of weeks.”
Mr Bull said Departmental representatives explained to him that the most recent delays came after an April 2022 flood event, which washed away a new area around the bridge, requiring new cultural heritage assessments to be undertaken.
“The reality is, work should have been commenced long before this flood hit, and the new assessments should not have taken so long to complete. There has just been no urgency from the Government on this project.
“The disappointing element of all this is that the campground still has a lot of debris, so because it has taken so long to get this far, we face the reality that the first summer holiday season it is open is 2026/27 – seven years after the fires.”
Mr Bull said the damage to the Point Hicks Road meant the Department was also considering walking access only to Point Hicks from the Thurra campground.
“I certainly understand that erosion is a problem on the existing road, but would hope that all options for vehicular access are explored so the iconic Point Hicks area is open for visitation by people of all ages given its significance of being the first part of mainland Australia sighted by Captain Cook.
“I look forward to the Department hopefully restoring access before the end of 2025 so the campground can be open for the summer of 2025/26, which I don’t think is too much to ask,” he said.
Monday, 28 August, 2023
Photo Credit: Rylee Pardew
