Shoalhaven Mayor Amanda Findley said if the bridge, which is a state asset, was retained and handed back to the city, it would come under the local road network, meaning maintenance costs would fall to council.

Although welcoming the announcement, Cr Findley asked where the maintenance funding would come from.

While the bridge is recognised as state heritage significant, Roads and Maritime Services documents reveal keeping the structure would cost between $15-$25 million to fix a variety of problems. A further maintenance cost of around $15 million over 50 years or $300,000 a year would be incurred.

To relocate or remove the structure is estimated to cost between $10-$20 million.

“That begs the question, if we are going to keep the bridge, who is going to fund its ongoing maintenance?” Cr Findley said.

“Something that definitely wasn’t mentioned on Saturday.”

Mrs Sudmalis said the question of bridge maintenance finding was not her issue.

“The debate is what the maintenance would cost,” Mrs Sudmalis said.

“If the bridge was used for lighter loads the costs for maintenance would be less.”

She said she hadn’t seen RMS documentation that revealed a maintenance bill of $15 milion over 50 years.

“Actually funding it, the bridge maintenance is not my issue,” she said.

“We put up the money for the feasibility study and that covered that. That’s where my contribution was.”

She said she had no issue with making an announcement about the bridge’s future despite it being a state asset.

“It was federal money for the feasibility study that revealed the bridge would be remaining so I have no problem in announcing that,” she said.

She said she was still waiting for a full costing from the state government before being able to go to the federal government  to seek funding for the new bridge.

Mrs Sudmalis dropped the bombshell on the bridge’s future while on stage at the Shoalhaven River Festival at the weekend

The future of the southbound iron whipple truss bridge, constructed in 1880, has been the centre of great deal of community debate after moves were first mooted to replace the structure.

RMS stated its preferred option to replace the historic crossing was to the west of the new bridge.

Mr Sudmalis showed off a large poster outlining the options for the replacement Shoalhaven River crossing, sprouting she was “working with state members for funding” while also announcing “Decision made - we are keeping the old bridge as well.”

“Perhaps the federal member will launch the Ann Sudmalis Memorial Bridge Fund,” Cr Findley said.

“Seriously, I’m happy to get the idea floating.

“If the federal government is going to enter into that discussion, they have to enter in discussion with a cheque book.

“Ann Sudmalis can’t impose a federal opinion onto council without backing it up with some data and some financing.

“It’s all very good to drop a lovely announcement but generally announcements come with some sort of backing.”

Cr Findley said she had “no idea the announcement was going to be made”.

“She [Mrs Sudmalis] never consulted with me or other Shoalhaven City Councillors and as far as I know not even council’s general manager Russ Pigg,” she said.

“I would like to know who is funding it?

“In the RMS initial consultation with council there were two options - keep it or get rid of it.

“If it was decided to keep it, it was flagged it would come back into the local road network, meaning maintenance costs would fall to council.

“There was an expectation from the community the bridge should stay, but it would only be used as a pedestrian bridge and for events.

“But council would have to find the $300,000 a year maintenance costs for the next 50 years.”

Cr Findley said she could see the old bridge being “a great asset”  which “could be used and also honour the history of the bridge. Something that could really enlighten the waterfront.”

“I don’t really want to lose it. I would like to see it stay like many people,” she said.

“People who take photos in Nowra of the Shoalhaven River always include the bridge in it.”

Mrs Sudmalis said the replacement of the bridge was a four stage process.

“First was the decision from RMS as the preferred option being to the west of the current new concrete bridge,” Mrs Sudmalis said.

“I said we would have a problem with the Illaroo Road/Princes Highway intersection so I went to council and said what have you got in the planning to alleviate the problems?

“They [council] said they had a plan for a back road to take it out the back to Moss Vale Road, for a budget of $13.8 million.

“I went to Darren Chester, the treasurer and prime minister and said the bridge is really important to me and they said they would see if they could sort it out.

“It’s there in the budget documents - we’ve got that money.”

She said part of the costings for everything over the river depended on whether the iron bridge was kept or not.

“They had to do all the costings on removal, demolition, keeping some, not keeping some of the bridge and they came down with the fact they decided to keep it,” she said.

“Because it is part of the $10m feasibility study coming from the federal government I was given a heads up from my level of government.”

She urged “everyone to work together on this one”.