The $1000 prize should add an extra incentive and the chamber encourages students, residents and businesses to start thinking about what they would like to see depicting the twin towns.

As part of the public competition the chamber has also drawn up a brief to be sent out to three landscape architectural firms to come up with two concept designs each, for the gateway.

Crighton Properties have come onboard to provide initial finance for these design concepts and have also pledged to assist with the final design financing as well as construction of the gateway.

"The objectives behind the gateway are to enhance the town entrance, to create an interest and awareness of the towns and what they have to offer, to position Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest as premier locations and destinations within Great Lakes, and to reflect our key areas of interest," president of the chamber Lee Anderson said.

She referred to the town of Kiama on the south coast of NSW which has designed a gateway utilising the theme of stone walls to reflect a key element of the natural surroundings in the area.

Given the speed of passing traffic the gateway would need to be clearly visible from a considerable distance, enabling traffic to slow and turn.

It would also need to be visible from both north and southbound lanes and yet not constitute a driving hazard, by blocking visibility, particularly to traffic entering and exiting the highway. Crighton Properties is liasing with the RTA to determine the site.

All the designs submitted as part of the competition will go on public exhibition including those from the landscape architects. Further comments will be accepted on the designs and finally a public vote will determine the winner.

The work will then be formalised by one of the landscape architectural firms initially employed to submit concepts. They may use several designs and incorporate a number of ideas to the final design.