Project Update provided in Council's Weekly Circular

Infrastructure NSW (Restart NSW) instigated a Gateway (Deep Dive) Review of the Station Street Upgrade project following receipt of a letter from a Bowral resident. The resident was concerned that the project scope was no longer consistent with the purpose of funding granted by Restart NSW.

Gateway Reviews are independently undertaken on behalf of the NSW Government and commissioned by Infrastructure NSW.

Wingecarribee Shire Council officers provided project information and participated in interviews as requested during April and May 2018. A Gateway Deep Dive Review Report was finalised for Infrastructure NSW by an independent Review Team in early July 2018. The report was thereafter shared with Council on a strictly confidential basis and classified as ‘Sensitive: NSW Cabinet’.

Council provided a response to the review’s recommendations and re-commenced tasks required to proceed with the delivery of an upgraded Station Street.

In July 2018 a formal request by a Bowral resident, under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009, was submitted to the NSW Government for access to a copy of the Gateway Deep Dive Review Report. The application was approved and information subsequently made public on 14 August 2018 at www.infrastructure.nsw.gov.au/accessing-information/public-disclosure/.

The report and Council’s response to the review recommendations can now be shared as the report has been made public. Accordingly this is the subject of a Weekly Circular issued to Councillors.

The Executive Summary of the Gateway Deep Dive Review Report records on page 4 that:

“The Review Team believes that the project as currently scoped is a very well-considered and appropriate solution, has considerable merit and should be expedited. In this regard, the Council has modified the scope in certain respects from that documented in the Restart NSW Funding Deed in response to community concerns, to address changes in design standards or to implement enhancements developed during detailed design.”

And concludes that:

“Overall, the Review Team considers that the Station Street Upgrade Project continues to be competently managed by the Council and that both scope and design offer a scheme that is consistent with the community and economic outcomes set forth in the original application for funding. However, there are several important matters as identified above that have the potential to compromise successful delivery of the project. These need to be appropriately addressed by Council as a matter of priority.”

For further information please read the 24 August 2018 edition of the Weekly Circular at www.wsc.nsw.gov.au/weekly-circulars.

UPDATE 5/9/18 - an error was found in the Gateway Deep Dive Review Report for Bowral Distributor Road (Stage 1 - Station Street Upgrade). A dash is missing on pages 4 and 19 of the report. The last sentence on each of these pages should say ‘removal of 2-4 (not 24) spaces on the service road…’

WSC has requested that a note be made within the report and a letter added as an addendum in order to ensure that the correct information is publicly provided. It was also suggested that the Bowral resident who sought the information under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 be informed.