Barker Creek near Brooklands
October 23, 2013
The Queensland Local Government Conference being held in Cairns today backed a motion by South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann for the State and Federal governments to provide more funding for bridge repairs.
Conference delegates passed a resolution that the Federal Government create a “Bridges To Recovery” program to run along similar lines to the well-established “Roads To Recovery” program.
Mayor Wayne Kratzmann told southburnett.com.au today he was very pleased with the support his suggestion had received.
“We not only got backing from other rural and regional councils, but also from councils in urban areas,” he said.
The Mayor estimated the South Burnett currently has 16 bridges which need major repairs or replacements, and that the work could cost “upwards of $10 million”.
“We’ve been spending record amounts on road works in the last few years, but we don’t have the funds to undertake these bridge repairs,” he said.
“Council’s engineers have told us that until we get these repairs done, most of these bridges will have to have load limits, some will have to be reduced to a single lane and others will have to remain closed.
“This isn’t good for our region or our economy. But we’re reluctant to go out and borrow the $10 million because that would just wind up as another burden on our ratepayers.”
The Mayor said that Member for Wide Bay – now Deputy Prime Minister – Warren Truss had talked about the need to fix the nation’s ageing bridges prior to this year’s Federal Election.
He said Mr Truss clearly recognised the need to get the nation’s bridges back to top condition, so he hoped the Conference’s resolution would be favourably received in Canberra.
The Mayor, Deputy Mayor Keith Campbell and CEO Ken McLoughlin are all attending the annual conference, which will conclude about lunchtime tomorrow.
