Jade Jungwirth
The highly controversial Froomes Road Bridge is once again on the agenda of tonight’s Mount Alexander Shire Council meeting.
At the beginning of 2020 the council resolved to award the contract for the bridge’s replacement, but after receiving negative feedback from residents and a petition with 1300 signatures, the council temporarily suspended awarding the contract.
By April 2021 the matter was again taken to councillors for approval. Councillor Gary McClure for Castlemaine Ward declared a conflict of interest, leaving six councillors to vote. After a hung vote, the motion was carried by mayor Tony Cordy’s casting vote.
Of interest, Cr Rosie Annear, who is now mayor, voted in favour of the construction of a new two-lane bridge.
A large number of residents formed Froomes Road Action Group to fight to keep the current bridge.
Member Ian Edwards told the Express there had been a lot of ill feeling about the bridge.
“We thought we’d won,” he said.
“Council voted against building a two-lane bridge, but didn’t vote for a one-lane bridge. This was a failure in their process.”
Since 2021 a number of studies have been undertaken on behalf of the council, including community consultation, further inspections, traffic studies, an ecological study and a heritage study.
The bridge, which is estimated to have originally been built in 1873 (with a replacement of the superstructure in the 1970s), has been assessed and found to have no notable heritage significance.
“This area of Castlemaine is special, next to the botanical gardens and with a 150-year-old wall beside it,” Ian said.
Another member of FRAG, Tamasine Dale, said the bridge was an important part of the historic botanical gardens precinct.
“A new two-lane bridge would see much more traffic and heavier and larger trucks in this small pocket of Castlemaine, adversely affecting the history and amenity of the area and impacting the flora and fauna,” Tamasine said.
The council officer’s report recommends that council approves the replacement of Froomes Road Bridge with a two-lane bridge as well as approving various pedestrian and road safety measures.
A council representative has told the Express they had intensively engaged with the local community around the next steps for the bridge and commissioned appropriate technical studies.
“The results of these have been presented to councillors to assist them in making an informed decision, and were made available to the public alongside the agenda for the meeting of council,” the spokesperson said.
Also, of interest, the council placed an advertisement in The Age on December 10, 2022 seeking tenders for bridge repairs at Froomes Road in Castlemaine, closing on January 31 2023. When queried about the advertisement, the council advised that the tender was for immediate maintenance works to the bridge and not for any long-term planning.
So, the question remains – what will be the outcome of this evening’s meeting? One lane or two?
