POLICE are no longer manning the George Chaffey Bridge border crossing following Friday’s downgrading of NSW zones.
Structures along the bridge began being dismantled on Friday, with traffic flowing freely by Saturday.
The first border crossings were established for those travelling from Victoria into New South Wales on the George Chaffey Bridge, Abbottsford Bridge and at Euston and Tooleybuc last July before being bolstered by Australian Defence Force personnel.
When restrictions were eased for Victorian residents following COVID-19 cases significantly decreasing for the first time in months, the border was reopened.
However just a month later, following an outbreak in Sydney’s northern beaches, Victoria closed its borders to NSW which saw the crossings re-established on the Victorian side of the border.
Now, after almost seven months of border crossings, police can return to their usual duties.
On Friday, after it was announced that all bar one zone in NSW would become green zones, allowing residents to travel freely into Victoria with a permit, Nationals leader Peter Walsh called for the border checkpoints to be scrapped.
“The border chaos must end and the NSW border must be reopened to put our local businesses and regional economies on track for survival,” Mr Walsh said.
His wish was granted just a few hours later.
At the time of the announcement, Police Minister Lisa Neville said the changes meant Victoria Police could begin scaling back their duties at the border, but it remained unclear just when that would happen and at what capacity.
The move came following debate over weather police were being spread too thinly with several hundred Victoria Police members, including officers from Mildura, on border duty.
NSW residents from the newly downgraded green zones will still need a permit to enter Victoria, which will be checked on an ad hoc basis.
Residents from the Cumberland LGA, the only remaining orange zone, must self-isolate on arrival, get tested within 72 hours and remain in quarantine until they receive a negative result.
