Media Release 23 March 09
Thoughtless government attack on local history and national heritage
The rapidly dwindling historic timber bridges of rural NSW are under threat again.
Cunneens Bridge crosses the north arm of the Wollombi Brook at the northern edge of the
historic village of Wollombi on the proposed World and State Heritage Listed - 220 km long
– convict-built Great North Road, which leads from Sydney to Newcastle.
It is a high wooden beam bridge built in 1896 by Keevers Brothers of Maitland (overseen by
the well known industrialist Gordon Edgell), on the site of two previous bridges, the first of
which was built by convicts in 1833.
Despite almost total neglect in maintenance by successive Councils, it has withstood all the
major floods of the 20th century, as well as the significant flood in 2007.
In the face of strong objections by four councillors and substantial opposition from the
community as well as cultural experts, Cessnock Council has voted to replace Cunneens
Bridge with a downstream concrete structure 4m higher and 7m wider than the old bridge.
(See attached computer generated image.)
As is obvious from the image, this structure would be seriously out of place with this historic,
natural environment and would, to say the least, be a blot on the landscape.
The old bridge would become a “managed ruin” which in bureaucrat-speak means allowing it
to collapse and disappear, like so many historic bridges before it.
In addition, the construction of the proposed concrete bridge would:
 mean the end of the community’s broader cultural and heritage proposal for the
“Meeting of the Waters” an important Indigenous and colonial/convict cultural site
downstream from the bridge (The Aboriginal name for Wollombi means meeting of
the waters)
 result in an intrusive structure at the northern entrance to the historic village of
Wollombi
 be an invitation for heavy road transport to use the narrow Paynes Crossing Road as a
short cut between New England and Sydney (surely the next bridge to go)
 seriously detract from the tourist appeal of the Wollombi Valley and the Hunter
Valley tourist “Wine Circuit”
 constitute a long term and damaging inter-generational impact on the total
environment.
The Council made its decision on the basis of a report which contains serious defects and
omissions. It was approved by its Director of Infrastructure, Mr. Lew Oldfield. This Director
has recently left the Council after a damning report on Council’s management record by the
NSW State Department of Local Government.
Given Council’s cost estimates for this concrete bridge, there is now no good reason why
Cunneens Bridge cannot be restored as a safe, effective working bridge, adequately meeting
the traffic needs of our rural road. The timber, the engineering expertise and the finance are
all available. With a minimum amount of imagination, they can be brought together to
showcase public commitment to local and state history and heritage.
Paul Budde
Cunneens Bridge Community Group
paul@budde.com.au
02 4998 8144