Cessnock Advertiser Letters to the Editor: August 16, 2017

Why has all this development at Heddon Greta/Cliftleigh been allowed to happen without viable road and access to a main state road?

I have lived in Heddon Greta for 42 years, having built my second home in Heddon Street some 18 years ago. I was told then, I would not have neighbours (Heddon Street area) for at least 10 years.

Two years later the bush was demolished and there is where this mess began. Next was the old speedway land, then pushing northward, still without any other access. All traffic had to enter and leave via Heddon Street. Traders Way took forever to be built, and you cannot turn right onto Main Road towards Kurri Kurri.

The development of land into small parcels allowing three or four homes (more if you take in the duplexes) to be built on what was once the old quarter-acre block has drastically increased the population. Throw in the opening of the Hunter Expressway and although a great asset, has resulted in many issues that were talked about in the town beforehand, but alas, they went straight into the too-hard basket. The $1.7 billion Expressway is supported by arterial goat tracks.

Now add the Puma servo and Red Rooster outlets into the mix and what a shemozzle we have at the Kurri end. Illegal U turns abound. Then there are the dozens of cars that park in that area.

As many readers have already said, it has become impossible at times to enter Main Road from Heddon, Stanford, Young and Earp Streets. All the holes in the Swiss cheese have lined up. It’s just a matter of time.

Surely it stands out when travelling to Maitland, Thornton and even Cessnock, where roadworks have been completed before the developments have been populated.

Why has Heddon Greta been left out of the planning picture? We have been ignored for far too long. These issues affect all residents of Heddon Greta and Cliftleigh every day and must impact all road users through the town.