Erkens Pushes For Weir Re-Opening

December 8, 2022

Nanango’s Cr Jane Erkens has launched a campaign to re-open McCauley Weir, a site that’s been closed to the public for more than two decades.

Cr Erkens recently uploaded a YouTube video to outline her plan (see below) and has asked for community feedback before she brings the issue to a South Burnett Regional Council meeting.

As she explains in her video, Cr Erkens would like to see the weir re-opened for limited public use.

Visitors who would like to access the weir would need to go to an SBRC Customer Service Centre, provide ID and sign an agreement to be given a key to the gate that blocks the weir’s access road.

They would need to remove any rubbish they create on their visit, and refrain from trespassing on any of the three farming properties that surround the water reserve.

Cr Erkens said McCauley Weir offered opportunities for cycling, bushwalking, boating and fishing, and she believed that reopening it could be done at no cost to ratepayers.

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McCauley Weir is located on Cooyar Creek, south-east of Nanango near the Seven Mile Diggings.

It was built in 1953 and was the original source of Nanango’s reticulated water supply, as well as being a popular recreation spot for local residents.

However, public access was blocked with a locked gate by the former Nanango Shire Council when the town’s water supply began to be drawn from Barker Creek.

Residents were encouraged to use recreational facilities at Tarong Power Station’s dam instead, a practice that continued until that area was closed to the public in the early 2000s to improve the power stations’ security.

In March 2012, the South Burnett Regional Council voted to continue blocking public access to McCauley Weir because Councillors felt the access road was unsafe.

But the Nanago Tourism and Development Association (NaTDA) and local fishing groups began agitating for the weir to be reopened the following year.

Their campaign continued until October 2015 when a group of NaTDA representatives was taken on a guided tour of the site by the SBRC’s former Infrastructure General Manager Russell Hood.

Mr Hood told the group that because Council had a duty of care to ensure the safety of residents, it could cost as much as $500,000 to re-open the site.

Amongst other things, Mr Hood said the Council would need to erect safety barriers at several points along the access road which had steep drop-offs; and either widen portions of the road or install traffic control signals to prevent accidents between drivers arriving and leaving the site.

The Council would probably also need to demolish or barricade two former pumping stations which may contain asbestos; and rebuild a small bridge on the foreshore which had been destroyed many years ago.

Composting toilets and other amenities would also have to be installed for picnickers.

In addition to this, Mr Hood said reopening the weir would involve the Council in ongoing costs for regular water testing, rubbish collection and grounds maintenance.

And because it was unlikely any grant money could be secured to cover these costs, the cost of reopening the weir would fall on the shoulders of South Burnett ratepayers.

Worse – because the weir has no accommodation facilities or any other ways to generate revenue – ongoing upkeep costs would also need to be paid by ratepayers.

Shortly after this visit, NaTDA voted to drop the weir’s reopening as a project.

Related articles:

• McCauley Weir … Yes Or No?
• NaTDA To Visit McCauley Weir
• Locals Want To See Weir For Themselves
• McCauley Weir Back On Agenda
• Road To Stay Closed … For Time Being

  Council, Nanango