COWPER MP Pat Conaghan has taken aim at federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King’s Tuesday visit to the Coffs Coast, claiming she ignored nearby communities impacted by the ongoing closure of Waterfall Way.
On Monday 19 January 2026 a landslip near Gordonsville Crossing was triggered by severe local rainfall, closing Waterfall Way – which links Bellingen with the Dorrigo Plateau and the Northern Tablelands – for the foreseeable future.
Minister King was in Coffs Harbour on Tuesday to announce the final stages of the Coffs Harbour Bypass, alongside NSW Minister for Roads Jenny Aitchison.
While the visit included media engagements, Mr Conaghan claims no community consultation time was arranged, and no meetings had been requested with Mayors, State MPs or Federal MPs within the surrounding areas.
“She fronted the cameras in Coffs Harbour in order to take credit for the Bypass, a project she had nothing to do with, but couldn’t travel 40 mins down the road to Bellingen and Dorrigo to chat to the community about the six-month closure of Waterfall Way.”
Mr Conaghan claims that last week he “again” invited the Minister to visit Bellingen Shire to “see the issue and the critical needs of Dorrigo Plateau communities for herself”.
“She would have known weeks ago that she would be in our area today, and yet I received no response.
“The people of Bellingen and Dorrigo should not be treated as second class citizens because they didn’t vote Labor.”
Speaking on ABC Coffs Coast on Tuesday morning, Ms King was questioned about possible emergency funding for the Dorrigo community under disaster recovery arrangements.
“That’ll be a matter for both the NSW Government and our Emergency Services Minister,” Ms King said.
“… any requests for disaster assistance, the NSW government will need to bring that forward and we will look at that as we do under the disaster recovery arrangements if that’s been the cause of the incident.”
Transport for NSW – a state government transport services and roads agency – is leading the landslip recovery project.
“In terms of the road access itself, what’s happening at the moment is that NSW Roads is doing the assessment of the roads,” Ms King said.
“We’re trying to get an understanding of what the short-term fix is.
“Obviously, these land slopes can be very dangerous and you don’t want to open too quickly if the soil is still not stable.
“We do the work to try and get them done as quickly as we can, but obviously we also need to make sure there’s a longer term fix in terms of that as well.”
According to TfNSW, geotechnical investigation work is progressing on the Waterfall Way landslip, attempting to build a clearer picture of the ground conditions and the causes of the ongoing slope instability.
On Tuesday, more than 300 locals attended a community meeting in Dorrigo to discuss the issue, with Member for Oxley Michael Kemp offering the following update via social media.
“While we’re still waiting on the official announcement of clear timeframes from Transport for NSW, which has now been delayed until tomorrow, the community spoke loudly,” he said.
“From what I’ve been told by the Minister’s office, we know the following information.
“Waterfall Way will reopen within six weeks of the decision being made.
“The road will then reopen to one lane under alternating traffic conditions.
“Gordonsville Cut will receive a permanent fix by benching the slope.
“Once access on Waterfall Way is open, it will allow Bellingen Shire Council to carry out the resilience upgrades needed on Summervilles Road.
“Summervilles road will be widened and tarred.
“But Waterfall Way will then close for around six months after those works are complete for the resilience works.
“Transport is considering all options for an alternative route.”
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