Just as pleasing was the heavy presence from Wingecarribee Shire Council: the mayor, deputy mayor, five councillors, the entire executive suite.

Council staff presented the Station Street upgrade, largely funded by a $7.5 million grant for the Bowral Bypass from the NSW Government Restart Illawarra Infrastructure Program.

Community members, including experts, spoke on the need to preserve heritage Bowral, and the importance of pin oaks, camellias and a streetscape of elms. 

Highlands Matters asked about the objectives of the proposal, given that the 2012 Bowral Parking, Traffic and Transport Strategy concluded that the notion of a bypass, or a road specifically designed to relieve traffic, is now known not to be the primary benefit of the road. 

We questioned car parking and the future of the Bowral Transport Interchange. How long would Station Street be a construction site, how many local businesses will go out of business? 

Then the Mayor spoke.

He criticised a professional planner from the community who suggested that council might err on the side of caution and transparency, and seek an arm’s length review of environmental impacts before the project destroys the northern entry to Bowral.

He [appeared to] ridicule a professional architect from the community who carried out a painstaking census of car parking and concluded there would be a nett loss of 114 all day unrestricted car spaces in the immediate vicinity on the east side of the railway station. 

Then the Mayor assured us, in summing up, that all matters raised will be addressed.

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