SEVEN months after member for Orange Andrew Gee called for an independent audit into the Northern Distributor Road, no such investigation seems to have progressed.
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The Central Western Daily asked Mr Gee for information on the inquiry’s status, including who was carrying it out and when a result could be expected, but Mr Gee declined to comment.
An Orange City Council spokesman confirmed no information had been requested from the council.
Mr Gee called for the audit in September last year amid ongoing damage to the distributor road’s surface, calling it the Violet Crumble.
At the time, he said he wanted to know what building instructions were given to the contractors, whether council had been warned about the build standard, how much had been spent on repairs, how much still needed to be spent, and why a warranty did not apply to the latest resurfacing work.
However, Orange mayor John Davis said Mr Gee’s refusal to comment on the issue in the months since showed there was nothing to substantiate the concerns.
“It’s disappointing that someone in the position he’s in and his legal background to say something like that and we believe there was no reason for it,” he said.
“It’s easy to say things, but to back them up is a different story.”
Infrastructure committee chair and councillor Glenn Taylor’s response was, “what audit?”
“We did full comprehensive testing on the foundations of the distributor and they were all in order and we’re hot mixing the top surface - he’s copping out,” he said.
“Here we have a parliamentary secretary for regional roads and can’t get one red cent - it’s an absolute disgrace.”
Cr Taylor said he had asked the council to request a traffic count from NSW Roads and Maritime Services to at least acknowledge the road was acting as a highway.
“The state government can say what they want, but we are getting on with the job,” he said.
danielle.cetinski@fairfaxmedia.com.au
