Problem a drain on Magnetic Island

MAGNETIC Island is supposed to be the “jewel in the crown” of Townsville, a place we spruik to tourists as the premier destination through millions of dollars in advertising, yet residents can’t even get a decent drain.

The drainage issue in Apjohn St, at Horseshoe Bay, isn’t new. For a decade if not more, residents have had to deal with their roads being ripped up and large piles of sand, rocks and debris washing into their properties every time it rains heavily because the water has nowhere to go.

When tourism boffins promote Magnetic Island as an untouched paradise, this is not what they meant.

How is it that a community that pays rates, builds houses and contributes to the economic good of Townsville can’t get a drain built after years of advocacy and representations to their political representatives?

It is unacceptable that elderly residents are forced to navigate sandy and rocky easements to get out of their own homes and go to the shops, unfair that homeowners have to spend their weekends shovelling sand out of their yards, and dangerous that protected environmental havens are also impacted.

It is Townsville City Council’s responsibility, in the end, to fix Apjohn St, but this does not absolve the State Government, or in the context of Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, the Federal Government.

The State Government can assist Townsville City Council in finding an appropriate pot of grant funding, through Works 4 Queensland or otherwise, to fix Apjohn St. The Federal Government, as has been previously mentioned in this paper, needs to rethink its DRFA guidelines and reduce red tape.

Leaders need to work together and get this done.

Magnetic Island cannot be spruiked as one of Townsville’s best assets if we can’t even get the basics right for people living there.