North Queensland residents have property fears allayed by development clarifications
Investors with properties in North Queensland towns of Collinsville and Merinda have been reassured by Deputy Premier, and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jeff Seeney, that the urban areas in these two towns would be excluded from the Galilee Basin State Development Area.
While he wasn’t giving anything away as to if a State Development area will necessarily be declared, he did say that those who had received past notifications that they may be affected could now have their fears reduced.
Member for Burdekin, Rosemary Menkens, said that it is a relief to landholders in her electorate.
“Under a broadly proposed SDA, landholders received notification that their properties may be impacted with construction of the vital rail link to the Port of Abbot Point, however they have now been given assurances that these urban areas will be excised from the SDA if and when it is declared,” Menkens said.
“Our small towns have been struggling. They have been waiting for too long while Labor and the Greens have delayed these infrastructure projects which will bring the jobs and prosperity needed to once again breathe life into the local economy,” she said.
Seeney said that feedback from the communities, as well as further planning for the rail, had allowed broad areas of the town to be excluded.
“The proposed Galilee State Development Area is designed to facilitate the construction of rail corridors to carry coal from potential Galilee Basin mines to the Port of Abbot Point,” he said.
“Residents in these urban areas can now be assured their properties will not be affected by proposed rail lines in the future and I anticipate further refinements to the proposed State Development Area as consultation continues.”
In Collinsville, properties that are in the area encompassing the existing rail network and bound by where the Bowen Development Road crosses Pelican Creek and the foot hills of Mount Devlin will be kept out of the SDA.
In Merinda, the area between the Bruce Highway and Jackson Street adjacent to the existing rail lines will be excluded from the proposal.