Ganter Constructions ramps up case for Marys Mount intersection upgrade

Ganter Constructions’ representative Richard Toparis said the company had paid “millions of dollars” in section 94 fees for the work, but still “nothing had happened”.

He was referring to a roundabout on the corner of Marys Mount and Crookwell Roads, a shared footpath along Crookwell Road to connect with the Wollondilly Walking Trail, and a bus stop on Mistful Park Road, in Ganter’s subdivision.

“Other developers (at Marys Mount) have also paid these fees and I don’t think they’re being spent in the area,” Mr Toparis said.

The council had not responded to this point and several questions at the time of publication. General manager Warwick Bennett was in meetings on Friday.

However, The Post is aware that section 94 fees have been allocated at least to a footpath and landscaping along Marys Mount Road.

Ganter claimed in a letter last November to the council that developers had been paying the fees for the past 10 years.

“All the roundabouts along Marys Mount Road have been constructed privately as works in-kind,” it stated.

“These contributions are to be spent in the immediate area. They are not to be used to subsidise other projects in the (council area).”

Ganter re-lodged the letter and other correspondence in response the council’s recent call for submissions on its annual budget. The budget will be discussed at Tuesday night’s meeting.

Mr Toparis said he was asked on an almost daily basis when the company would complete the roundabout and shared walkway.

“It’s not our job,” he said.

Ganter argued that booming housing construction in the area and increased traffic flow during peak periods made the work “imperative”.

The shared walkway was also a matter of safety for residents in nearby Marsden Village, who had to cross busy 80km/h roads to reach the Wollondilly Walking Track, Mr Toparis said.

Ganter also wants a traffic study undertaken on the wider Marys Mount area.

The council has responded with a series of recommendations to councillors.

General manager Warwick Bennett has recommended that negotiations continue with the Roads and Maritime Service regarding the Marys Mount/Crookwell Roads intersection upgrade and shared path, given the latter is a regional, not a council road. The aim is to include the work in the 2019/20 budget.

Ganter wrote that plans for the upgrade had previously been drafted and approved. Mr Toparis said it should also include a through lane for traffic heading to Crookwell.

Secondly, Mr Bennett recommended that a Marys Mount area traffic study, estimated to cost $30,000, be incorporated into the same budget. It would be funded from section 94 fees.

Finally, he suggested a bus stop for Mistful Park be built in 2018/19, also from section 94 contributions.

Ganter has completed three stages of the Mistful Park subdivision, incorporating 90 houses. A further 120 are planned across another two stages.  

The company has also completed a nearby childcare centre and started on a takeaway outlet. In the longer term it is planning a supermarket and service station.

Ganter describes Marys Mount as the fastest growing area in Goulburn. This justified a traffic management study taking into account pedestrians, buses and vehicular access, “just like the one done recently in South Goulburn and Run-O-Waters,” the company argued.

Mr Toparis told The Post he had also lobbied the council for a bus stop at Mistful Park because children living in the subdivision had to walk up to 850 metres, traversing the busy Crookwell Road, to catch the school bus. Parents and the schools had complained, yet “nothing had been done,” the company stated in its November letter.

Further, a bus stop had been included in the original Mistful Park design but removed by council engineers, Ganter claimed.

More recently, Mr Toparis said the company and a group of parents had negotiated with the bus company to drive into the subdivision to pick up children.

He was pleased with the meeting recommendations, saying the intersection’s upgrade in 2019/20 was at least better than in 2020/21.

But nearby resident, Perc Carter isn’t so convinced.

He believed a roundabout would create a traffic hazard, given the Crookwell Road’s increased usage by trucks and vehicles travelling the upgraded route through to Bathurst. More wind farm vehicles were also using the road, he said. Mr Carter said Ganter only wanted the infrastructure because it was planning a service station.

“Having a roundabout there where there’s a single lane on both sides will mean the traffic will be more chaotic than that outside 2GN (Union/Lagoon streets intersection) currently,” he said.

“The left hand lane is clogged at significant times of the day and this will be replicated at Marys Mount.”

Mr Carter said a roundabout in that location had been planned for 10 years but dismissed at the time due to the large number of articulated vehicles using the road. He too argued the infrastructure would disrupt traffic flow and result in braking trucks.  

In a letter tendered at Tuesday’s meeting, Mr Bennett said the RMS had rejected the council’s request for a 60km/h speed limit on Marys Mount Road and Crookwell Road from Chinamans Lane to the bridge. It is still lobbying for the reduction from 80km/h.

Mr Carter also agreed with the traffic study, but said it should deploy electronic traffic counters rather than manual ones to achieve accuracy.

Regarding the shared walkway, he said this would be difficult to incorporate if the roundabout was to be built as it would cut into available space needed.