Administrator Rik Hart is being asked to postpone any decision on the controversial Winney Bay Cliff Top Walk.
The recommendation for the February 27 meeting is that he leaves it to new councillors to deal with, after the council elections in September this year.
It was an issue that split the previous councillors and was the subject of many council agendas.
In 2018, the then NSW Premier announced funding for Stage 2 of the Winney Bay Cliff Top Walk.
Council considered the matter on a number of occasions in 2018 and in September 2019 resolved to seek costings and community feedback on options.
The motion called on council to accept the funding offered from Infrastructure NSW – with the proviso that council continued its plan to consult the community to see which proposal it preferred: Plan A, B or C.
But there was a problem with that.
Infrastructure NSW told council on August 28, 2019 that the funding was for Plan A and some components were non negotiable.
It had already backed away from market stalls but still wanted to build a bridge and another lookout.
Councillors were split on going with the State’s plans or with reducing the size and impact.
So, not long after the Council decision, the NSW Government withdrew the funding for the project.
Despite that, community consultation on the proposed options was undertaken in 2020.
But that feedback – from four years ago – has never been tabled in council.
“A diversity of opinion about the project was expressed during the 2020 consultation process,” Council says.
“Given this diversity of opinion, and that due to there being no current funding source for the project to proceed, it is proposed that an elected Council would be better placed to consider the
outcomes of the community consultation,” the Feb 27 report states.
Wondering where Winney Bay is?
You walk through Winney Bay when you participate in the annual Five Lands Walk. Once you leave Copacabana Beach you walk up the big hill to Captain Cook’s Lookout and then proceed down through Winney Bay and up the other side as you head for Avoca Beach. Last year, the whales were in full view at Copa Beach and up at the lookout.
