Jamberoo Mt Rd Opens Festival Celebration

Significant damage –caused by a number of landslides and flood water from storms in July last year – forced the closure of the key connecting infrastructure between the Kiama LGA and the Southern Highlands. Repairs didn’t begin until six months after its closure in January due to the extent of the damage at four different sites above and underneath the road, and the challenging geography of the sites.

big blow for Jamberoo businesses who, through their busiest time of the year, lost their tourist and commuter trade.

It was reported by The Bugle in August, just one month after the initial closure, that Kings Patisserie & Café, Nerilee Antiques and Jamberoo Newsagency were suffering with a significant decline in customers.

Jamberoo many of the other businesses, and the flow through of traffic in Jamberoo has just made all that much difficult,” he says. the people of Jamberoo for their patience and acknowledges the significant impact it has had on the local community and businesses. special Kiama Winter Brew beer from Stoic Brewing at Gerringong.

Kiama Winter Festival opened to locals and visitors alike, with the popular ice rink returning to the shore.

Following on from last year’s successful Ignite Festival, Destination Kiama presented the six-day festival which included different skating night themes with Freaky Friday, Superhero Saturday, Retro Sunday and more.

The rink featured penguins to hold onto for shaky skaters and igloos nearby to eat something warm from the food trucks.

Surfpaints were on site to personalise surfboards, and Faces to Paint and Hair by Courtney for the kids to get their festival look on.

Mathilda’s Farmyard Nursery was also at the festival and very popular with the youngsters.

One Fitness hosted a variety of fitness related events.

Kiama Collective Beat also had a winter theme backdrop for festival photos.

Director Infrastructure and Liveability Michael Malone says while this may feel like it extended the length of the road closure, it was critical to invest time and effort in coming up with repairs that would last, noting the road has been closed in the past from August to December in 2020.

“It was important to spend time getting the investigations done and design right, otherwise we’ll be literally back at the drawing board if they fail,” Mr Malone says. He assures they have designed the damaged sections to withstand the sort of storms and flooding saw last year, rather than restoring them to what they were before.

The 12-month wait was a

Newsagency originally adjusted its trading hours to counter the loss of tradies that would come through in the mornings – which was estimated to account for 20 to 25 per cent of their customer base – before closing their doors earlier this year.

Nerilee Antiques reported it was down to three customers on the weekend compared to the usual 30 and admitted in May that they were considering shutting their doors after 50 years.

Owner of Jamberoo Pub, Jamie Warren, says the road’s closure has flowed onto a reduction in the employment of his staff and has ultimately made it harder for him to pay the bills.

“We’re coming off the back of a lot of difficulties, as are

“It has been a very long haul so we’re really looking forward to having the road reopen and getting a big boost back into our business.”

Jamie acknowledges that it has been a difficult job to get the road reopened and appreciates the efforts of Council, Member for Kiama Gareth Ward and the Government in making it happen, as well as Council staff and contractors who have been working on it. While the closure has hurt businesses, the lack of eastwest connectivity has also inconvenienced local residents, especially those who use the mountain for their daily work commute, school run or shopping trip.

Mayor Neil Reilly thanks continued on p8

“I want to simply say thank you for persevering throughout the last year while we worked to reconstruct the significant amount of damage to the road,” Mayor Reilly says. He also thanked the NSW and Australian Governments, who provided disaster relief funding and their expertise on large-scale construction projects, and Council staff and contractors, who met numerous challenges along the way.

To further extend his gratitude, and to give locals a chance to chat with the engineers face-to-face about the lengthy repair process, Council hosted a community barbeque.

A concert was held by SENTRAL Youth Services in Hindmarsh Park showcasing local artists.

Acts on stage included Denim on Her, Frando, Sundown, Janis, Zirconium and Ben.

A great feature of this year’s festival was the Eat Like a Local food stall where all of Kiama’s favourite eateries were and Taste of the Dharawal tent from Gamaraa.

The Festival Bar featured steaming mulled wine and a

Once darkness fell, a series of illuminated projections were displayed from Luke Turk of Incirratta and Seven Marks Gallery, similar to light projections in Sydney’s Vivid festival.

Inciratta incidentally is the name of a suborder of octopuses (not octopi) which includes benthic octopuses as well as the rarer paper nautiluses.

by Mark Whalan