Residents frustrated as Rawdon Island bridge closure impact hits home

Matthew Rourke said he was extremely disappointed.

"My wife and I are gobsmacked we are in this situation," he said.

Fifty households are impacted as the bridge provides the only road access to Rawdon Island.

The temporary closure is in response to safety concerns.

Following underwater inspections, which Port Macquarie-Hastings Council commissioned after the March floods, severe damage in the pile foundations has been identified above seabed level at a number of locations.

Investigations are continuing into the damage.

The council closed the bridge with only emergency vehicles and foot traffic permitted access under strict traffic control.

Mr Rourke believes the council should be acting faster to find a solution.

He said the situation was "truly frustrating".

Mr Rourke said he felt very saddened for families considering the bridge closure's impact on their daily needs.

Council CEO Dr Clare Allen said residents' safety was her priority and the council was going to work as fast as it could to find a solution.

The main focus is to reopen the bridge, with a load limit, but a number of safety conditions must first be met.

Temporary measures aim to help residents manage the immediate impacts in the meantime.

Fawaz Khodary and Fiona Davy, who live on Rawdon Island with four adult children, are regularly discovering new inconveniences as a result of the bridge closure.

"Everything is just taking longer," Mr Khodary said.

"The basics of what we took for granted have been thrown out the window."

Simple tasks, like trips into town, are more complicated, flood repairs have been put on hold and accessing services is posing issues.

"The inconvenience for basic services is becoming more and more apparent," Mr Khodary said.

Ms Davy finds it difficult to walk across the bridge as she recently had major back surgery.

"After being in hospital for nearly four weeks, I was thinking my challenges were behind me, and to find out there is no vehicle access to the bridge is difficult," she said.

The family launched a private messenger group to streamline communication.

The family-run business, Your Discount Chemist, has its head office at the couple's home and three employees have to make their way on foot across the bridge each work day.

The bridge has turned into a meeting point for Rawdon Island residents as they go about their business.

"If there is a positive to this, we have banded together," Mr Khodary said.

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