FIRST SHOTS FIRED

KIAMA councillor and Liberal pre-selection candidate Trevor Fredericks has fired the first shots in what is likely to be a long and heated battle with Labor Minister Matt Brown for the seat of Kiama by slamming the NSW state governments handling of the realignment of the Princess Highway between Gerringong and Bomaderry.

While welcoming the RTAs community consultation process, Mr Fredericks said the community had grown disillusioned with the government saying the Labor government is still yet to offer any real commitment on the project.

I believe the community has grown increasingly cynical that less than 12 months from the election the state government has decided to open community consultation when the road is in desperate need of repairs right now, he said.

The fact that the government has called for community consultation means that any real decision is still years away. The government has issued no money and no commitment towards the project with both seeming a fair way off.

Mr Fredericks said the road between Gerringong and Bomaderry was extremely dangerous and something the state government should have been looking at for some time.

The community expected something to have been done in the last ten years but all that we have seen is this community consultation.

We need a much more solid commitment from the state government. This has been needed for some time so I think we definitely need to see more than simply a community consultation, he said

It is obvious this road is in desperate need of improvement, it is a very dangerous piece of road should have been attended to some time ago. Something should be done soon, it is already well overdue. The community needs a commitment.

Matt Brown, speaking prior to Mr Fredericks announcement of his plans to run for the seat of Kiama, said he was surprised by his comments.

This comes as a surprise hearing this from Trevor, I have never heard him comment on any public infrastructure before so I am not sure why he is showing any interest now.

To hear him speaking about public roads comes as a huge surprise, he said.

I do not think that the public has become cynical at all. They are happy to see another project getting underway.

If the best the Liberals can do is whinge and whine when something positive is getting done then they have a problem.

?Mr Brown said despite the North Kiama bypass being made the priority he considered the stretch of road between Bomaderry and Gerringong very dangerous saying he believed an eventual upgrade to the road was imperative.

I supported the North Kiama bypass being made the priority as I am sure a lot of my constituents did as well.

I think it is a very dangerous stretch of road and it should be upgraded, while I also believe that any upgrades should include the bypassing of Berry for safety reasons, so we dont have people trying to cross the roads and having to dodge big semi trailers.

And secondly so we can restore the aesthetic nature of the main street. That is why I have been lobbying to get the study.

The local consultation meeting will be held at Gerringong Town Hall, 6pm on May 4.

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