AS Orange councillors debate ways to deal with ongoing damage to the Northern Distributor Road, member for Orange Andrew Gee has added his voice to the critics.
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In his column in a community magazine, Mr Gee called the road the “Violet Crumble” and said Orange City Council was wholly responsible for the road’s design and construction and it had nothing to do with the NSW government.
“NSW has no plans to take it over,” he said.
However, Mr Gee declined to answer questions on what prompted the remarks, nor whether he ruled out any future state government help for the road.
The comments came as councillors discussed asking NSW Roads and Maritime Services to assess whether the road should be classified as a highway and fall under state responsibility.
It is understood nothing has been formally resolved.
Councillor Jeff Whitton said if the RMS agreed it functioned as a bypass, the council might consider upgrading it to standard and signing it over to the RMS, in exchange for the existing Mitchell Highway alignment through Summer Street.
“It’s used primarily by heavy vehicles travelling from the west of NSW to the east, so it makes sense for the ratepayers of Orange not funding the ongoing maintenance of that road,” he said.
“I would have thought Andrew would work closely with that [application] to the benefit of the ratepayers.”
Councillor Russell Turner, who has previously commented on the state of the road, said Mr Gee’s comments were “disappointing”.
