The project is currently at the investigation and design stage and Mr Fish said the work has progressed well.

The work involves sealing two gravel sections of the road, to the north of Big Hill, totalling 6.2kms in length.

"Once the design and investigation work has been completed, the project will be advertised for tender," Mr Fish said.

"After council has selected a successful tenderer, the work program will be determined and construction will commence, which will be mid-2020 at the earliest."

Kempsey Shire Council maintains an 11.8km length of the road from Crescent Head Road to Big Hill, where the road enters Limeburners Creek National Park.

Of this 11.8km section, 5.6km of the road is sealed with two gravel sections of 4km and 2.2km remaining.

In January, 2019 over 300 locals marched along Point Plomer Road in protest of the decision made by Kempsey Shire Council to tar the remaining sections of unsealed road.

Residents of Crescent Head and surrounds believe the road should be preserved and remain unsealed to maintain the rustic nature of the back road.

Point Plomer Road stretches from Crescent Head along the coast through to the Port Macquarie region.

The project to seal the road was identified as a priority in council's 2017-21 Delivery Program, as part of improvements to the local transport network.

According to council's website, the decision to pursue funding to seal the road was largely based on enhancing road user safety, given the high traffic volumes experienced along the road.

On July 3 2019, the NSW Government announced a grant for $2.88 million under the Regional Growth - Environment and Tourism Fund for the sealing works.

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