The Wyangala community is thankful but wary at the words from New South Wales Water Minister Philip Costa that the road atop the dam wall will not close permanently to the public until a satisfactory north south access route is available.

In a late last minute letter formally addressed to the mayors of Boorowa, Cowra and Weddin shires and read at the packed public meeting in the village on Thursday night, the water minister did not commit to the idea of a bridge, but did say he would be using the recommendations of Ian Armstrong – the head of the independent review into the road closure –as a starting point to pursue further investigations.

These included, the Minister wrote, engaging engineers to further examine access solutions.

Mr Armstrong revealed to the meeting he had recommended to the Minister several key points, the first starting with leaving the road as is, open and accessible to the public.

“Option 1 is do nothing,” he told the crowd, which included representatives from State Water, local councils and the community. .

“Option 2, should the road be an Occupational Health and Safety issue for State Water working on the wall, is to build a series of hanging platforms off the existing railing, to allow access.”

Mr Armstrong’s third option was to rule out the Mt McDonald/Reg Hailstone way alternative access and lastly, if the road atop the wall absolutely must close, a crossing over the Lachlan River must be built near to the village, in the vicinity of the Trout Farm.

The commitment to a bridge access might not have written, but Cowra mayor Bill West described the Minister’s words on Thursday night as a major milestone.

“Given where we were, facing a road closure, to where we are today, this is a major milestone and shows what a community can achieve when its works together,” Cr West said.

“We have come a long way and we need to keep that in mind as we work together in the future to solidify the result.”

Cr West said it appeared from the summary presented by Mr Armstrong to the meeting that the head of the review had presented the community sentiment regarding the closure of the wall and praised him for it.

However he anxiously awaited to see the full details of the report - and formal receipt of the letter from Mr Costa read aloud at the meeting.