{"id":248859,"date":"2019-11-21T21:56:27","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T11:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=248859"},"modified":"2020-07-14T12:08:43","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T02:08:43","slug":"council-to-close-forestry-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/11\/21\/council-to-close-forestry-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Council To Close Forestry Road"},"content":{"rendered":"
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South Burnett Regional Council has agreed to close a 3.3km section of Ridge Road between Meandu Mine and Yarraman Forestry so the mine can expand to the north-east (Map: Google)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

November 21, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

South Burnett Regional Council has agreed to permanently close a 3.3km section of Ridge Road at Neumgna to allow Meandu Mine to expand.<\/p>\n

At Wednesday’s monthly meeting, Councillors were told Stanwell had requested the road closure in advance of applying to the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy for permission to expand their King 2 East project.<\/p>\n

Ridge Road runs between the D’Aguilar Highway and Neumgna along the eastern edge of the Meandu Mine pit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It forms a boundary between the Toowoomba and South Burnett regional councils and is jointly managed by them.<\/p>\n

Council officers said the road doesn’t provide primary access for private landholders and there were no residential properties serviced by it.<\/p>\n

It is also one of several roads that provide access to the Yarraman State Forest, so its closure would not have a negative effect on HQ Plantations, who could use other roads to access the forestry instead.<\/p>\n

Stanwell said it would pay compensation – split 50\/50 between both councils – for the written-down value of Ridge Road if the closure occurred.<\/p>\n

Stanwell first publicly\u00a0flagged the need to close Ridge Road at a community briefing in May 2017, and underlined the need again at a similar briefing in May this year.<\/b><\/p>\n

The company proposes extending the existing Meandu pit into the forestry area north-east of the current pits, which would increase the mine’s surface area by 7 per cent (190ha).<\/p>\n

In addition to Ridge Road’s closure, the extended pit will also require the relocation of a 275kV Powerlink feeder line.<\/p>\n

The new section of the mine is not expected to open until 2024.<\/p>\n

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