Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to set the record straight: Mount Victoria, Blackheath and Megalong Valley, west of Katoomba, are all open for business. Media reports of the closure of Victoria Pass—the steep hill you drive down at the end of the mountains to get to Little Hartley—have given people the wrong idea that somehow the mountains are closed. Yes, when you're heading west beyond Mount Victoria, the Great Western Highway is closed and a detour is in place to get people to the Central West. While traffic would that would normally stay on the Great Western Highway moseys on through the village of Mount Victoria, the cafes, hotels and retail shops are open as usual and keen for people to stop. The same is true for Blackheath and the Megalong Valley. The delis, the cafes, the butcher and the accommodation are all open and noticing that fewer people are stopping. So my message is: 'Go visit them, and Easter is the perfect time.'

I commend the state member for Blue Mountains, Trish Doyle, on the work she's doing to make sure all suggestions to help traffic move through the detour smoothly are considered and to ensure that the investigations into the Victoria Pass happen as fast as possible. Some vehicles are opting for the Bells Line of Road to and from Lithgow. Don't forget to stop at Berambing, Mount Tomah, Bilpin or Kurrajong, if you come that way, and support those local businesses. We are open for business.