ANGER erupted yesterday during town hall meeting in Cessnock, where residents unloaded on the council and accused it of intentionally withholding plans regarding a proposed upgrade to one of the region's biggest roads.
Cessnock City Council has started planning for a four-lane Wollombi Road expansion, doubling the two lanes in place. They say the upgrades will ease traffic during peak times, improve intersections and add bus stop access.
But residents argue the proposal will cripple their customer base, cull parking and cost ratepayers.
About 200 neighbours and business owners, along with four councillors, attended the town hall meeting organised by Save Wollombi Road activist group yesterday.
The group opposes expansion of the road altogether and is particularly against mayor Jay Suvaal's claim that council should spend $1.7 million on an investigation into the proposal.
Councillors Ian Olsen, Jessica Jurd, Paul Paynter and John Moores - all independents - attended the meeting and said they supported residents in opposing the four-lane upgrade. Some, however, agreed more research should be done by the council before a proposal was made actively available to the community.
The council has released a project timeline on its website, anticipating completion of stage one upgrades in 2026. A list of frequently asked questions is also available online.
But residents alleged the council had been "deceptive" and intentionally withheld plans from the community. To date, an aerial map signposting the location of works is available online but a detailed proposal is not.
Cr Jurd and Cr Olsen have been "sharing" proposed development plans with neighbours in a bid to better inform the community, however they said they know nothing more than the information they have released.
Community members attended a Facebook live question-and-answer time with the mayor on August 24, where the $1.7 million proposed expenditure was made known.
The group says their questions were only answered with "prepared statements" and that community members were barred from an extraordinary council meeting about Wollombi Road on August 30.
During a question time yesterday, several community members said they believed the lack of clarity around the road plans exposed a dysfunctional council.
"Are you not the governing board?" one women asked council panellists. "Do you not comprise the governing council and as such do you not have a right to that information?
"Your problem is bigger than Wollombi Road. Your problem is the council."
Cr Jurd said the tension showed locals "how council operates" and that councillors "can't get their hands on information".
Cr Olsen said his requests for more information had been "blocked, blocked, blocked".
"You talk about what the problem [is] with council," he said. "The problem is the management are out of control and the councillors aren't controlling them."
He said expansion dissidents should "try our hardest" to delay the start of works until after council elections in September 2024.
Several residents proposed alternate plans for the road or to "stop paying [council] rates" but business spokesperson Naomi Smith told the crowd the "next step" was to write impassioned letters to council.
The Save Wollombi Road group has commissioned "a sea" of 200 corflute signs and sought donations to fund 400 more, hoping "every fence" on the three-kilometre stretch of the development's stage one will be covered.
Fortnightly meetings with businesses and local residents will be held in coming months. The council will hold a community information session on October 17 at Cessnock City Library.
