Much of the $40 million the Federal Government has allocated to Shoalhaven Council for vital roadwork will be spent before any shovel hits the ground.
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Council's City Services Director Carey McIntyre has provided all councillors with a report on what is happening with the funding package, which was promised before the 2022 federal election.
It showed up to $10 million was to be spent on scoping, investigations, planning and design for the upgrades.
The memo, which has been seen by this publication and was sent out soon after a previous article was published about the road projects, also outlined delays caused by working with state and federal bureaucracies.
Federal Member for Gilmore, Fiona Phillips, said the $40 million funding was included in the October 2022 federal budget.
Amid concerns about the lack of action since then, Mr McIntyre said the work and funding was "awaiting execution of the scoping phase project planning report (PPR) by the Federal Government".
"Council provided a revised draft of the PPR in September 2023, and in April 2024 amended the draft PPR at the request of the department in readiness for execution.
"The approval of the PPR required endorsement by [Transport for NSW], who will manage the release of funds once the project commences, and it is council's understanding that there were some delays in the processes between the Federal and State Government departments which has protracted the PPR process," Mr McIntyre said.
He said council had "undertaken an EOI process to identify potential partner consultants to assist council to deliver the works, and the final stages of that procurement process are pending the execution of the PPR and the confirmation of the release of funding."
Mr McIntyre predicted $400,000 would be spent on scoping works in 2023/24, followed by a further $9.6 million on scoping, investigations, planning, design and early works in 2024/25.
That left $30 million for the physical work upgrading Forest Road, Callala Beach Road, Callala Bay Road, Culburra Road, the Callala Bay intersection and the Worrigee intersection.
That work is expected to be carried out over two years - 2025/26 and 2026/27.
"The extent of work for each road is not yet defined but will mostly be determined during the scoping phase and then refined through the investigation phase once constraints are known and costs or works can be more accurately estimated," Mr McIntyre said.
The $40 million to upgrade a range of roads that had been hard hit by repeated floods was first promised by Liberal Party candidate for Gilmore, Andrew Constance, before being matched days later by Mrs Phillips.
Mr Constance said the amount was asked by Shoalhaven Council's then-CEO Stephen Dunshea, leading him to believe specific projects and areas for upgrade had been identified and costs estimated.
Despite delays in the process, Mr McIntyre stressed "the relationship and cooperation between council and the state and federal government in regard to this opportunity has been positive and effective, and it is considered the staff within each tier of government have been endeavouring to progress this project as soon as possible".
