I SAW HIM DO IT
Officer tells court he lied to protect cop accused of bashing backpacker
SENIOR-Constable Brett Chadwick has admitted in court watching his partner Constable Matt McKinnar (above) punch a backpacker five times in the head.
MAYOR Bob Manning has labelled the State Government arrogant and inconsistent over a new Smithfield bypass alignment that cuts through a future industrial precinct.
Cairns Regional Council plans to write to the Department of Transport and Main Roads rejecting the proposed new route, which it says has shifted west and cuts a large swath from the subdivision.
The department says the alignment should come as no surprise to the developers, who were told about the shift in March, or the council which was informed at a meeting on August 30 that the alignment would not be changed.
Council documents reveal a boundary realignment for the subdivision was approved on August 31 – the very day after the meeting with DTMR.
Mayor Bob Manning said the Brisbane-based developer, Eljasie Pty Ltd, had acted in good faith on the investment.
“Resumptions of land are always sensitive issues. The impression can come across that governments have got arrogance,” he said.
“They will justify it with cost, convenience or whatever, but I think it is a measure of absolute last resort.”
Cr Manning argued investor confidence would take a hit from the move.
“We’ve got a subdivision that’s not that old and a State Government department comes along and just dropkicks it,” he said. “If the alignment had been there in the first place, I’m sure the owner would not have subdivided it.”
By the State Government’s timetable, the development boundary realignment application was lodged with the council five months after the landholder was told the bypass would be shifted west.
Barron River MP Craig Crawford said he did not want any delays to the $152-million project.
“Because of the soil testing and hydrology (work) that has gone on to date, to move it back would push the bypass back by about six months,” he said.
Acting Main Roads Minister Steven Miles said there was nothing stopping developers from establishing another industrial precinct that was divided by the Smithfield bypass, or on either side of it.
He said shifting the road would have unacceptable impacts on environmental, price and time frame considerations.
“The bypass is a vital piece of road infrastructure that the Far North community has been calling for over many years and it’s vital that we get it right,” he said. “Planning for the final alignment is the result of many years of extensive technical investigations to identify the best option.”
THE IMPRESSION CAN COME ACROSS THAT GOVERNMENTS HAVE GOT ARROGANCE. THEY WILL JUSTIFY IT WITH COST, CONVENIENCE OR WHATEVER, BUT I THINK IT IS A MEASURE OF ABSOLUTE LAST RESORT CAIRNS MAYOR BOB MANNING