In Sydney, planning is well advanced for the Sydney Orbital Route, a circumferential road around Sydney. In time, all the major routes leading out of Sydney, including the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway, will link into the Orbital. As part of the study of connections from the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway to the Orbital, public comment was invited on a specific range of options. The range included low-cost options, conventional road options and freeway options, and various routes went through developed areas or urban bushland. The public response was very large, with 1857 written responses, petitions bearing up to 1600 signatures, 430 telephone enquiries, nine public meetings and an interview on talk-back radio. This paper looks at the on talk-back radio. This paper looks at the public response, and also the community attitudes to the effects on developed areas and urban bushland, and road proposals in general. It highlights some aspects of the process which worked effectively, and puts forward some suggestions for refining the public participation technique (A).
Samenvatting