A group of residents, business owners and impacted landowners recently formed the Greater Bunbury Community Group in response to the proposed Bunbury Outer Ring Road.
After engaging in the Main Roads Bunbury Outer Ring Road community reference group process for more than six months, members of both the northern and southern groups have “broken out”, fed up with not being heard and a lack of “strategic planning”.
Made up of around 30 people, the group is eager to recruit more and ensure the best possible route for the Bunbury Outer Ring Road is planned.
The group has already met with Forrest MP Nola Marino and South West MLC Steve Thomas and are seeking a meeting with Transport minister Rita Saffiotti.
Southern Community Reference Group member Greg Bell said many had lost total trust in Main Roads and the consultation process.
“We’ve been referred nothing from Main Roads for us to consider and to think about and to come back to them with something – we don’t expect to make the decisions but we expect to be part of the decision-making process,” he said.
“We’re very frustrated with the tick and flick process and that’s why we’ve formed outside that Main Roads process.
“There’s an interchange in the middle of a cow paddock, it’s just going to become a big joke.”
Founding member Brian Rettinger said the current process being used by the Bunbury Outer Ring Road team needed to be paused.
“We want to be heard and we want to have our concerns and recommendations acted upon in some fashion,” he said.
“We are a diverse, positive, well-qualified group, we support an outer ring road and we represent the whole greater Bunbury community.
“We can’t keep going down this road, literally and figuratively.”
Main Roads recently said stakeholder and community consultation would continue throughout 2019 with community information sessions and reference group meetings.
For more information contact 0402 091 117.
