Closing it has meant lengthy detours, inconvenience and concerns for safety, given the impact on the Warral Rural Fire Service and school bus services.

But, it hasn’t only been the residents whose frustration levels have soared in recent months.

The council has been banging its head against a wall trying to get the necessary government approvals that would have enabled it to resolve the issues that led to the closure of the road at the creek.

“Bureaucracy gone mad” was a sentiment echoed by a number of councillors at Tuesday night’s meeting.

“Environmental constraints” have prevented council from carrying out the maintenance work it needs to do to keep the causeway open, and numerous appeals to the fisheries division of the NSW Department of Primary Industries have failed in allowing the work to proceed.

The simple fact is that being allowed to maintain the causeway would keep it open and allow residents to resume their lives as normal.

Surely that should also be the priority for our government departments.

Whatever the department’s environmental concerns are have to be balanced with the needs of the residents who live there.

Surely they’re not asking for too much in expecting to be able to use a road that’s always been there and that up until now has always been open to traffic. And for council, which recognises a solution must be found, one of the only alternatives it’s left with is consideration of a $600,000 bridge.

Fisheries is not being asked to endorse the destruction of the creek – it’s being asked to allow reasonable maintenance. A road was allowed to be built in the first place, and necessary maintenance should be part of the deal.

It’s time that sanity – and some common sense – prevailed.