Marc Hendrickx and Associates Pty Ltd

Management of the closure of Wolgan Valley Road is excelling as a case study in mismanagement and failure of current policy and processes involved in repair and remediation of landslides in NSW. This matter is of considerable public interest given the costs of the closure – likely running over $200M in lost income to businesses and the prolonged closure that has severely impacted the Wolgan Valley Community. It also impacts repair of many other landslides in NSW that have occurred over the last 5 years and the management of future disaster events. It is clear that the processes are deeply flawed and the public are not getting value for money. There are lessons for government and industry to learn if they are prepared to listen. These matters are discussed below as a matter of public interest.

The saga started with a slope risk analysis that resulted in the road being closed in August 2022 and subsequently over $8M being spent on investigation and design of alternative routes. Short term access into the valley along the 4WD Donkey Steps Track cost around $4M to construct. The DRFA application to the NEMA by Lithgow Council claimed it would cost over $1 BILLION to repair the old road. This claim was lampooned in the press as a “Billion Dollar Blunder“, yet somehow it appears it got agreement from TfNSW. As of January 2026, Wolgan Valley Road remains officially closed, but is being used by locals, and council contractors, especially by heavy vehicles for work in the valley.

These reports were supposedly reviewed by experts in Transport for New South Wales. I was interested in seeing the nature of these expert reviews, especially given the damning review of the initial risk assessment by GHD, and GHD’s new risk assessment that pointed to a difference in the range of 4 orders of magnitude in assessed landslide risk.

There is also the huge disparity in estimates to repair the old road to explain. Initial advice pointed to around $60M to achieve a tolerable risk target, but this blew out to the incredulous figure of over $1 BILLION in the DRFA application. Estimates by landslide remediation specialists Geovert indicated $203M to reconstruct the road meeting DRFA conditions, and my own assessment to achieve an ARL3 target indicated about $80M (this was very conservative!). The $203M estimate from Geovert was a fixed price bid and was not considered by either Council or Transport. Why? How is this vast range in costs explained by TfNSW who approved the $385M application that claimed the $1 BILLION figure?

On 21/2/2023 Lithgow council requested TfNSW provide a technical review of a WSP report about slope risk on Wolgan Valley Road. Council do not have in house geotechnical experts and were relying on TfNSW to provide an accurate and expert opinion: “Please find attached Part 2 of the report on Wolgan Road, comprising a detailed Slope Risk Assessment relating to the asset. Council will undertake its review, however, as discussed previously, it would be greatly appreciated if Transport for NSW and Public Works NSW could also review and give their expert commentary and advice accordingly.”

Council requested “expert commentary”. I requested a copy of this “expert” advice from Lithgow council and they provided the following from TfNSW below. I have redacted the names.

Are these emails the basis of TfNSW “expert” commentary? The first does not provided critcal commentary on the methodology used, merely accepts the report’s findings and explicitly gives the go-ahead for investigations on the new route. The second is superficial, reflecting the writer being “beyond my technical comfort zone” and not having the requisite expert knowledge. Neither of these constitutes “expert commentary”. See GHD’s expert review for how this should have looked.

Was further “expert” advice provided by TfNSW? What of the technical reviews of the DRFA funding application that suported the astonishing figure of $1 Billion to repair the old road – how did TfNSW review this document?

Seeking answers in December 2025, I submitted a GIPA request to TfNSW seeking the following:

Item 1. On 21/2/2023 Lithgow council requested TfNSW provided a technical review of a WSP report about slope risk on Wolgan Valley Road: “Please find attached Part 2 of the report on Wolgan Road, comprising a detailed Slope Risk Assessment relating to the asset. Council will undertake its review, however, as discussed previously, it would be greatly appreciated if Transport for NSW and Public Works NSW could also review and give their expert commentary and advice accordingly.” Council requested “expert” commentary; however “reviews” provided by TfNSW to council were not completed by experts. I am seeking copies of any additional review or commentary of the WSP report by staff from TfNSW provided as reports, emails or other forms of correspondence. If no such expert review was undertaken, then please confirm this was the case.

Item 2. In July 2025 Lithgow Council were awarded $385M to restore access to Wolgan Valley. The award was based on a report provided to council by consultants WSP. I am seeking copies of any review or commentary of this WSP report and Lithgow council submission to the NEMA by staff from TfNSW provided as reports, emails or other forms of correspondence.

On January 23,2026 TfNSW replied to my GIPA request:

“I have decided to refuse to deal with the application under section 58(1)(e), in accordance with section 60(1)(a), for the reason that dealing with the application would require an unreasonable and substantial diversion of the agency’s resources.”

These are pretty specific requests. TfNSW claimed it would have to look through 1000s of emails and it would take over 40 hours to fulfil them! Not surprisingly, I have requested a review from the NSW Information Commissioner (wait and see).

I recently received a reply from Jenny Aitchison MP (NSW Minister for Roads) to my cost estimate for repairs of the old road sent to the government in October last year. Given the reply to my GIPA request from Transport, I was encouraged by this statement from the Minister:

“I appreciate the ongoing interest in this project and the desire to see progress guided by robust evidence and sound technical assessment. Transport for NSW remains focused on supporting a transparent and methodical process that considers all viable options and supports timely decision-making.”

I highlight the words “transparent” and “timely”. Based on mine and the community’s experience, management of slope failures on Wolgan Valley Road have been neither “transparent” or “timely” and the sad saga continues to drag on. Perhaps the Minister will step in and approve the release of the information I seek? (I have asked her to look into it).

There are some salient lessons for TfNSW to learn from this experience, but it seems no one is listening.