Option B (the far western option) has been confirmed as the preferred route. Planning for the Woomargama bypass is funded by the Australian Government.
Why Option B (the far western option)?
In recommending a preferred option for the Woomargama bypass, consideration was given to the community's issues and comments, preliminary environmental investigations and the outcomes of the value management workshop and supplementary workshop.
The key reasons for the recommendation of Option B are:
- Option B has less impact on biodiversity as it results in clearing less native vegetation including riparian vegetation and box gum woodland.
- Cultural heritage and environmental impacts can be minimised on Option B.
- Option B enables future development of Woomargama in line with Council's land use strategy and the vision shared by Council and the community.
- The length of Option B is shorter, offering better value for money overall.
The preliminary environmental investigations and supplementary investigations provided data to compare the three options. More information is provided in the preferred option report, which is available here.
Value management workshop and supplementary workshop
In February 2008 a value management workshop was held with participants from the community, government agencies and consultants with technical areas of expertise. The workshop involved evaluating each of the route options against a range of criteria. The criteria used in the evaluation comprised:
- Impacts on property and residents.
- Environmental and cultural impacts.
- Safety of road users.
- Optimal social and economic relationship between the town and bypass.
Agreement was not reached on a preferred bypass option for Woomargama. It was decided to not consider Option C further due to its poor performance on the following:
- Environmental and cultural impacts.
- Road user benefits.
- Optimal social and economic relationship between the town and bypass.
Additional investigations were undertaken into Options A and B. The results were presented at a supplementary workshop in July 2008. The outcome was a general acceptance of Option B with ongoing concern over the impact of property severance.
