As you’re probably already aware, our FIX IT NOW campaign to improve the Princes Highway south of Nowra has been taken to the highest levels of government, with a bipartisan meeting in Canberra on Wednesday. 

We secured a statement co-signed by Deputy PM Michael McCormack and Shadow Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese saying a bipartisans approach is needed to get the highway fixed. They also agreed to take a drive down the highway to see how dangerous it is. We expected this visit to take place some time in February but got a call on Thursday from Mr McCormack’s office suggesting a visit as early as next week, when he will be acting PM.

While details are yet to be locked down I thought you, as subscribers, would be keen to hear about it before anyone else. I’d certainly welcome your thoughts on which parts of the Princes Highway should be prioritised for upgrade work. Just email me on john.hanscombe@fairfaxmedia.com.au 

Meanwhile, a proposal for a flyover at the northern end of the new Nowra bridge has been presented to the RMS by the Shoalhaven Business Chamber, which is keen to ensure traffic issues through Nowra are addressed as part of the major construction project.

After the report into PFAS contamination in and around Defence bases was handed down, a former Jervis Bay firefighter who was exposed to the chemical and is dying from cancer offered himself up as a test subject to get a measure of how dangerous the stuff is.

Bangalee landowners who have bought into a housing estate have been slugged with extra costs in order to build. Caught by a change to legislation, they have been told they will need to provide bushfire and biodiversity studies before they can proceed.  

And out at Hyams Beach, residents are bracing for the holiday invasion and calling again for long-term traffic management measures.

Catch you next weekend.