February 27, 2019
A counter-petition in favour of a feasibility study into a Murgon-Proston Rail Trail will be presented to the South Burnett Regional Council’s March meeting.
The action comes in response to a petition from farmers along the former railway route calling for the study not to be undertaken, which was tendered at the Council’s February meeting.
The counter-petition will be lodged by Coverty Creek Community Development and Social Club (CCCDSC).
CCCDSC called a public meeting in Proston on January 8 to urge the Council to apply for a State Government grant to carry out a feasibility study on extending the South Burnett Rail Trail from Murgon to Proston.
The route would make use of the former railway line land that linked the two towns from 1923 to 1993, which is still owned by the State Government.
At that meeting, Mayor Keith Campbell said he believed the Council “owed it to Proston” to conduct the study.
At its January general meeting eight days later, Council resolved to apply to the Rail Trail Local Government Grants Program for funding to have the study carried out.
President Garin Muirhead said while Council was proceeding with its grant application, CCCDSC believed the counter-petition was important to reassure Councillors more people were in favour of the feasibility study than opposed to it.
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The issue of petitions, counter-petitions and the feasibility study was one of several issues discussed at the second meeting of the South Burnett Rail Trail Users Association, which was held at Wondai Art Gallery’s Studio last week.
Since its formation meeting last November, the group has been incorporated as a not-for-profit community organisation.
Association members heard that Nanango Heritage Building Society’s plans to signpost “the link” section that will join the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail to the South Burnett Rail Trail via Nanango and had received approval at the South Burnett Regional Council’s December meeting.
While no firm opening date has yet been set, it seems likely the route will become operational within a few months.
Members expressed concerns that some portions of “the link” – a former stock route between Yarraman and Nanango – will require upgrading but the meeting resolved to wait until the first stage of the project was open before looking at any further improvements that might be needed.
The group also heard that providing the Council’s application for funding to conduct a Murgon-Proston Rail Trail feasibility study was successful, it was unlikely a final report would be delivered until the latter part of 2019.
This was because the State Government would first need to approve the grant, then Council would need to call tenders to appoint a suitably qualified consultant to do the work.
After this, a thorough analysis of the concept, community consultations, potential costings and a final set of reports was likely to take up to six months to complete.
This being so, the meeting resolved to let both projects develop at their own pace and look at more immediate improvements it could tackle instead.
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The failure of solar-powered counters to measure usage of the South Burnett Rail Trail has been a source of irritation to both the Council and SBRTUA members, the meeting heard.
SBRTUA members have been collecting data on the number of caravanners using the free parking areas at Wooroolin and Wondai for close to 12 months.
While this provides very useful data on the likely revenue the parking areas generate for both towns – and also a seasonal map of the peaks of troughs in the region’s “grey nomad” market – the data does not directly measure Rail Trail traffic.
Deputy Mayor Kathy Duff reported at February’s Council meeting the counters which were installed soon after the Rail Trail opened in October 2017 to collect this type of data have been defective almost from the day they were turned on.
Cr Duff said Council had been working with both the suppliers and the manufacturer to resolve the ongoing issues, and new counters of a different type are now being supplied at no cost to Council in an effort to fix the problem.
The meeting agreed that it was important to measure trail usage, but felt two counters were inadequate. This was because residents tended to take shorter trips along the trail, while most Trail tourists followed the route end-to-end.
Two counters appear to be unable to adequately differentiate between the different groups, but four counters had the capacity to capture this sort of information.
SBRTUA secretary Jason Wyeth said the South Burnett Mountain Bike Club recently installed automated traffic counters on their cycling tracks in the McEuen Forestry, and they appeared to work perfectly.
He said those counters used an infra-red beam, and were powered by lithium-ion batteries with an expected 10-year lifespan.
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The meeting also discussed introducing extra seating on the trail, and decided picnic table seating near Barambah Creek and Wondai’s free overnight parking area would be a welcome addition.
Barambah Creek is an attractive stop-off point for locals and tourists, and suitable seating located above the creek’s flood high water mark could benefit both.
The meeting heard one of the most frequent complaints from visitors using Wondai’s free camping area was they had nowhere to sit. The nearest seating was in Coronation Park, which was inconvenient.
The meeting also discussed the lack of adequate sun shading on a picnic bench Council had installed at Memerambi during the Rail Trail’s construction phase, and looked at models of picnic benches from Council’s preferred park bench supplier which featured extended shade roofs.
After a short discussion, members resolved to request a meeting with the Council to discuss the SBRTUA’s ideas for better counters and picnic benches.
If Council agree to these improvements, the group would seek funding from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund to cover the costs.
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The next meeting of the SBRTUA will be held at the Wondai Art Gallery’s Studio on Tuesday, March 19 at 7:00pm.
People interested in the growth and development of the South Burnett Rail Trail are very welcome to attend.
Related articles:
- Council To Study Proston-Murgon Trail
- Council Approves Rail Trail Link
- Big Interest In Rail Trail Group
- Call To Extend Rail Trail To Proston
Disclosure: Dafyd Martindale is president of the SBRTUA and co-owner of South Burnett Online
[UPDATED with correction – the SBRTUA’s next meeting is Tuesday, March 19, not March 18 as originally stated]
