What’s happening with the Witonga Drive roundabout?

Geoff Helisma |

With all of the planned work to take place along Yamba Road, Clarence Valley Council (CVC) is remaining tight-lipped on the detail of when and where the roundabout that extends Witonga Drive to Yamba Road will be constructed.

At the announcement of CVC’s successful grant application on February 1, CVC’s works and civil director Troy Anderson told the Independent that the developer of Yamba Quays would be liable to fund a percentage of the future roundabout, based upon the additional traffic generated by the development.

This, he said, would be similar to the planned Treelands Drive roundabout, which attracted an eight per cent contribution from the developer.

In the meantime, the Independent has obtained a copy of Yamba Quays’ conditions of consent (as tabled at a Land and Environment Court hearing in 2009) that states among its 39 conditions that the developer is responsible for “the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Gumnut Road and Witonga Drive” and that “no additional fill shall be transported to the site until the completion of the roundabout” at the intersection of Yamba Road and Witonga Drive”.

These roundabouts, the conditions state, are to be constructed at the developer’s expense.

The Independent posed some written questions to CVC’s planning and community director Des Schroder, asking, “exactly where the Witonga/Illawong Dve roundabout will be located” and “when can people expect the Witonga/Gumnut roundabout” to be constructed.

He provided the following statement: “When it is required the roundabout at the intersection of Witonga Drive and Yamba Road will be built as per the 1973 conditions; at the developer’s expense,” he wrote.

“The development of the current 42 lots will not trigger the need for a roundabout.

“The need and timing of a roundabout at the site will be considered if and when there is an application for the development of further lots.”

The Independent had also hoped to clarify how the proposed Yamba Road works would interact with the strategically planned ‘Yamba Urban Bypass’, however, Mr Schroder declined an interview request.

Meanwhile, Clarence Property, the owner and developer of the current 42 lots, states on its website that the “Stage 1 acquisition price, stamp duty and development costs totalling approximately $15 million will be funded from existing cash reserves; the purchase of Stage 2 [94 lots] will settle in approximately 18 months”.