Blue Mountains Greens have hit out at Blue Mountains City Council demanding it remove the graffiti defacing the historic Lennox Bridge in Glenbrook.
Greens Lower Mountains spokesman, Joel MacRae said: “For over a year now Lennox Bridge on Mitchell’s Pass has been covered with ugly tags and offensive graffiti.
“It is time for action to clean it up. If was at Echo Point, it would have been cleaned up immediately.”
But council says they are well aware of the problem and working hard with heritage authorities to protect the state oldest surviving stone arch bridge on mainland Australia. They have ordered specialist cleaning chemical materials from overseas, after successful $74,000 grant funding via MP Stuart Ayres in March this year for a two year project to fix the bridge, trialling the chemical materials first. Council will match the funding dollar for dollar.
“Council is well aware of the graffiti on Lennox Bridge and shares the public concern for the vandalism of such a significant and iconic heritage item,” said Blue Mountains mayor Mark Greenhill.
“Council is actively addressing the problem in a considered, strategic and innovative way to ensure long lasting results while maintaining the heritage value and integrity of the bridge. Our work also has the potential to advance heritage management practices across Australia.”
He said Lennox Bridge is “not just any old brick wall where you can rush in with a quick fix”. “It is worth taking the time to do the job properly, which is exactly what council is doing.”
The stone arch bridge, designed by master stonemason David Lennox and built with convict labour in 1833, served the traffic to western New South Wales until 1926 when the highway was re-routed. The bridge is at the heart of the historic Mitchell Pass precinct that includes an 1832 bridle trail and the old small bridge quarry site.
“Vandalism and neglect have made this magnificent heritage icon of the Lower Mountains an absolute disgrace and a place to avoid,” Mr MacRae said.
“The council needs to get its act together on this, erase the graffiti, clean up the whole area and upgrade the facilities so that visitors and local residents are encouraged to come and have a picnic, take photographs, go for a bushwalk and enjoy the built and natural beauty of that area,” he added.
Ward 4 Liberal councillor Brendan Christie said he was “extremely disappointed that Lennox Bridge is being used for political point scoring”.
“The amount of work taken to get the grant to get the specific chemical required to preserve the bridge has been enormous. This chemical won’t damage the bridge, as Mr MacRae seems to want us to do if we followed his suggestion,” he said.
Council is currently installing signs at the site about the installation of surveillance cameras in coming weeks.
Mr Macrae said there should also be regular patrols of the area to deter future vandalism.
“Cleaned up, protected and promoted, Lennox Bridge could be another reason for tourists to come to the Blue Mountains,” he said.
