Blue Mountains MPs are furious after the Minister for Regional Roads, Paul Toole, has refused their requests to have consultations paused for the Great Western Highway upgrades at Medlow Bath.

On 31st July, Trish Doyle, Member for Blue Mountains, Susan Templeman, Federal Member for Macquarie and Mark Greenhill, Mayor of the Blue Mountains wrote a combined letter to Minister Paul Toole and Barnaby Joyce, Minster for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development. They requested that consultation sessions for the upgrades to the highway at Medlow Bath be paused until such time that the community can meet face-to-face with Government representatives.

Minister Toole responded on 8th September, stating that whilst he acknowledges online consultations may be challenging for some residents, Transport for NSW is unable to postpone these sessions.

“The Minister reports to us that consultation sessions have been more than adequate and extensive but this is not lining up with what we’re being told by the residents of Medlow Bath” said Ms Doyle. “We’re hearing that locals are deeply unhappy with the current plans. Many feel as though their points of view are being ignored and that the consultation process to date has been unjust and demoralising.”

Ms Doyle said “What baffles me is why this part of the consultation and planning process has to be pushed through at an already stressful time. The community is in lockdown and unable to meet face-to-face with the Minister and Transport for NSW to have a wholly transparent and accessible discussion about the future of their village.”

“This is a once in a lifetime project and it needs to be done right. As I’ve said from the start, the Blue Mountains is not just a corridor between Sydney and the West. It is a unique, fragile and incredibly precious part of the world that deserves to be protected. Infrastructure projects of this magnitude must not progress with the community feeling that our local amenity and environment is under threat” Ms Doyle added.
Susan Templeman and Mayor Mark Greenhill have joined Ms Doyle in her criticism of the NSW Government.

“Let’s put the State Government’s plans to ram a four-lane highway through the village of Medlow Bath into perspective; it’s 220 pages of a review of environmental factors, and 866 pages of appendices,” Ms Templeman said.

“Residents’ opportunity to examine these plans were extremely limited – particularly if they weren’t tech savvy - and they needed the opportunity to sit down and discuss the blue print they’d worked up around extending the Blackheath-Mount Victoria tunnel.”
“The State Government put the entire Parliament on hold due to COVID, yet it can’t seem to hold back the bulldozers that are bearing down on Medlow Bath.”

“It’s yet another example of a Liberal-National government tick-and-flick exercise when it comes to community consultation,” said Ms Templeman.

Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill added “This government has failed to consult any residents in the mid and lower mountains at all about its plans to introduce trucks up to 30 metres long to the highway, significantly impacting the quality of life of a majority of our community.”

“This decision about Medlow Bath is a further sign that the government doesn’t care about the Blue Mountains at all.”

“I thank Trish and Susan for being such strong voices on this matter and I stand with them,” said Mr Greenhill.

Reports from Medlow Bath residents allege that the sessions conducted online due to current lockdown restrictions are prohibitive to many and consequently, preventing all voices from being heard.

President of the Medlow Bath Residents Association, Debra Brown, has expressed her frustrations with the process thus far, describing it as “cruel and unfair.”

“The insistence by Minister Toole and TfNSW to push on with this project consultation in 2020 and 2021 appears indicative of their lack of commitment to true and honest consultation, prioritising its 2022 construction schedule over proper process,” Ms Brown said. “However, the Minister for Regional Roads and Transport can make a real difference to the Blue Mountains community, tourism economy and his own electorate. The 19km tunnel option from Katoomba to Hartley is an elegant solution that will deliver improved travel times, improved resilience to natural d