Tweed Shire Council is seeking a change in how the shire’s roads are classified by the State Government to substantially boost funding for road funding and maintenance, in line with the support enjoyed by similar urban growth areas in NSW.
In NSW, the RTA manages and funds internal urban arterial roads in major urban centres – defined as Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and the NSW Central Coast – being urban areas in excess of 100,000 people. Outside these areas, the RTA only funds arterial roads between towns.
As Tweed is not recognised as a major urban centre, the Shire misses out on RTA management and funding of roads such as Kennedy Drive and Fraser Drive.
Up to now, Council has funded Tweed’s urban arterial roads through developer contributions. The significant proportion of developer contributions which must be spent on roads in the Tweed works to the detriment of the development of the community infrastructure needed to cater for future population growth.
Mayor of Tweed, Councillor Barry Longland said, although many of the Tweed’s roads carry an urban traffic load due to the large population and proximity to the Gold Coast, the shire is disadvantaged by not being classified as a major urban centre by the RTA.
“Unlike Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and the Central Coast, we carry the burden of funding and maintaining the majority of our arterial roads,” Councillor Longland said.
“The only urban arterial roads being funded as State Roads in the Tweed are the Pacific Highway and the Gold Coast Highway,” he said.
“Although we do not technically meet the 100,000 level to be classified as a major urban centre, the Australian Bureau of Statistics recognises the Gold Coast Tweed as a continuous urban centre, with an estimated population of 558,900 in 2008.
“The Tweed is coming of age as a major urban centre and has to provide the road infrastructure to support that growth. Gosford and Wyong faced similar problems when they were of a similar size to Tweed, and the State Government stepped in to fund the road network to support a population that has now grown to 350,000 people.
“The time has come where Tweed needs similar support for its next stage of growth,” Councillor Longland said.
“We are seeking the support of the two local members and the Minister for the North Coast for the State Government to recognise Tweed as a major and rapidly growing urban centre and to classify and fund its urban arterial road network in a similar manner to that enjoyed by Gosford and Wyong,” he said.
“Council and the RTA adopted an Arterial Road Network Masterplan in 2006 which included a Kirkwood Road interchange and connection to Kennedy Drive. When these works are finished, the cost will be more than $100 million.
“This sort of expenditure is well beyond the ability of Council to fund through developer contributions, particularly now the government has capped the amount we can charge.”
Another downside of not being recognised as a major urban centre is that a substantial proportion of developer contributions (Section 94 funds) in the Tweed need to be directed towards financing the expanded arterial road system needed to service planned population growth.
“In similar coastal growth councils such as Wyong and Gosford, there are no Section 94 developer contribution plans for funding an urban arterial road network so road developer contributions in Gosford/Wyong are directed to community infrastructure,” he said.
“As a result, unlike Tweed, the majority of Section 94 developer contributions on the Central Coast are directed to softer ‘community infrastructure’ such as community facilities and open space.
“We’re missing out on this essential community infrastructure needed to cater for our growing population because our roads are consuming such a large amount of available developer contribution funds,” he said.
