BATHURST Regional Council marked the effective completion of the Mitre, Suttor and Lambert street intersection project with a media call on Friday, but two key people were left off the invite list.
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The community knows that, without Kent and Dianne McNab's vigorous campaign, the intersection would likely have been left how it was - prone to accidents and a threat to pedestrian safety.
It was their efforts, backed by many in the community, that pushed the council to realign the intersection and install a roundabout, but despite this, they were not invited to the media call that Mayor Bobby Bourke called "the official opening".
The couple were alerted to the media call and made a point of showing up, later joining a group photo with other community members, council staff and representatives of the contractor, Talis Civil.
While Mrs McNab said that they were "spoken to and welcomed in by the mayor", Mr McNab expressed his frustration at not being invited in the first place.
"As far as I'm concerned, it is typical of council, it's rude and arrogant," he said.
Council told the Western Advocate after the media call that the couple weren't invited as "it was intended to acknowledge the work of the councillors, council staff and the contractor".
Asked if there were any plans to acknowledge the McNabs' contributions at a later date, council's answer was no.
However, Cr Bourke did reflect on their efforts while speaking to the media about the project.
"There was a push by the community to do something with this roundabout, which the McNabs were heavily involved in," he said.
"They pushed for the last few years, through community consultation, to do something with this roundabout and, as councillors, we were listening."
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Cr Bourke was happy with the end result, saying the services underneath the intersection were upgraded and the area was now safer for motorists and pedestrians.
"I'm glad that over that period of time [before the works] that no one was seriously injured here. There was a lot of mishaps, near-misses, but today we see probably one of our best-built roundabouts.
"And the work that was done by Talis Civil, they've worked very good in communicating with the community and businesses houses around this area and they've done it in a time frame that was appropriate without serious delays."
He also thanked the other councillors for their support, and the community and businesses for their patience.
The project will be finished in the coming weeks, with just landscaping and line marking in the car park left to complete.
