{"id":60818,"date":"2014-03-19T16:36:02","date_gmt":"2014-03-19T06:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=60818"},"modified":"2020-12-04T15:24:48","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T05:24:48","slug":"bridge-named-after-local-pioneer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/03\/19\/bridge-named-after-local-pioneer\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridge Named After Local Pioneer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Drayton<\/a>
Nanango’s Drayton Street bridge will be renamed the Ben Walters Bridge when it reopens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

March 19, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nanango’s Drayton Street bridge will be renamed the “Ben Walters Bridge” when it reopens later this week.<\/p>\n

The South Burnett Regional Council voted unanimously to name the bridge after one of the town’s pioneers at today’s monthly Council meeting.<\/p>\n

Cr Barry Green said he had undertaken consultation with stakeholders and interested parties about the new name, and told fellow councillors the general feedback he’d received had been supportive.<\/p>\n

Benjamin (Ben) Walters was born at Goode’s Inn – the town’s first hotel – in 1861 and died in 1950. <\/strong><\/p>\n

He spent a large part of his life working for the Clapperton family at Tarong Station.<\/p>\n

But he was employed by Nanango Shire Council as a Works Overseer for 16 years, during which time he was responsible for building most of the timber bridges in the Nanango area.<\/p>\n

And while the replaced Drayton Street bridge wasn’t built by Mr Walters, who was in his eighties at the time, it was built to his design.<\/p>\n

Cr Green said two of Ben Walters’ granddaughters – Mrs Eileen Horne and Mrs Beryl Gibson – still lived in Nanango, and naming the bridge in his honour would pay recognition to “a humble man who made an extraordinary contribution to transportation in the South Burnett”.<\/p>\n

The Council will make a budget allocation to install a plaque and signs on the bridge in due course.<\/p>\n

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