December 2, 2013
Repairs to Levers Road at Tablelands could cost close to 10 per cent of the South Burnett Regional Council’s annual budget, a public meeting was told on Friday.
The community consultation meeting was called at Tablelands Hall by the South Burnett Regional Council to update local landholders about possible ways to restore the road, which suffered a catastrophic landslip in June this year.
The landslip caused a 200mm drop at the edge of the road shoulder, and it was thought at the time the edge of the road was in imminent danger of collapse.
This led to the road’s closure while council engineers examined the problem.
At Friday’s meeting, a crowd of about 50 heard the council believed there were three possible solutions:
- A “like-for-like” replacement of the road, which would entail reinforcing sections of the road with concrete pylons; council officers estimated this could cost as much as $4.5 million, or close to 10 per cent of the South Burnett Regional Council’s annual budget.
- A reworking of the road on a new alignment; this would involve some land resumptions, but was estimated to cost roughly one-third of the “like-for-like” option
- Leaving the road closed, and diverting traffic along Carters and Daniels roads; this would be a low-cost option for the Council but one that would require some affected landholders to travel as much as eight kilometres further.
The meeting was told the cost of a “like-for-like” replacement made it unlikely Council would be able to undertake the project at the present time.
Voting for the other two options was split evenly amongst attendees.
Mayor Wayne Kratzmann told southburnett.com.au council officers would now assess the meeting’s two preferred options in detail.
The matter is expected to be put before a full Council meeting for a final decision next year.
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