Land taken for road

Farm owners to be compensated in Bruce upgrade

ALMOST two hectares of agricultural land is being acquired to upgrade the Bruce Highway north of Townsville.

The land being resumed by the State Government is around Bambaroo off the Bruce Highway.

Two sugar cane farms will be affected by the resumptions, with 436.8 sqm and 1.831ha being taken from two separately owned farms for the project – Santo and Mary Lamari own one of the farms where 1.831ha of land is being taken.

Mrs Lamari said they were happy with how the process had been handled and were told they would be compensated by the State Government.

She said they were not worried about any effects of roadworks on their farm.

A Transport and Main Roads spokeswoman said minimising resumptions was an important consideration when choosing the project footprint.

“But small areas of privately owned land is required to accommodate the overtaking lanes,” she said.

“We have been engaging with the community about the project scope and land requirements throughout the design process.

“Consultation with affected landholders adjacent to the existing highway regarding resumptions occurred earlier this year, once the project footprint was determined.”

The spokeswoman said the work at Bambaroo was identified as part of the Bruce Highway Safety Package, which aimed to reduce the number of fatal and serious injuries.

From Hechts Rd to Easter Creek, 7.3km will be widened and wide centre line treatments will be installed during the project.

Intersections at Catastis Rd, Scrubview Rd, Jourama Falls Rd and Yuruga Rd will all be upgraded too.

The spokeswoman said north and south- bound overtaking lanes would be built between Little Gin Creek and Water View Creek,

Upgrades are due to start later this year and the TMR spokeswoman said they would be completed in early 2020.

“Once complete, these upgrades will provide vital safety improvements for road users,” she said.

Member for Hinchinbrook Nick Dametto said the work had been a long time coming.

“It’s great to see TMR actioning some of the funding that’s been made available for Bruce Highway upgrades,” Mr Dametto said.

“Every dollar that’s spent on transforming the highway has the potential to save lives.”

The project is jointly funded by the State and Federal Governments. MINING giant Rio Tinto says it will receive $ 3.95 billion in gross proceeds from the sale of its coal assets in Central Queensland.

The number comes from its second quarter operations review, which came out on July 17. Rio Tinto has sold interests in the Kestrel and Hail Creek coal mines both in the Bowen Basin.

The Kestrel underground coal mine is being sold to a group including EMR Capital and Adaro Energy, with Glencore taking Hail Creek.

It also sold an interest in the Valeria coal development, which is in the undeveloped Galilee Basin, to Glencore.

Rio Tinto said the sales were expected to be completed in the second half of this year, subject to satisfaction of completion conditions.

The company’s quarterly hard coking coal production was 40 per cent higher than the second quarter of 2017.

This was due to the impact of Cyclone Debbie on the company’s Hail Creek mine.