REPORT IS A 30-YEAR PALM OFF TO REGION

THE state government has rolled up the Kuranda Range Road and lobbed it into the too-hard basket. In Cairns this week to announce the long-awaited marine precinct infrastructure business plan, Deputy Premier Steven Miles gave with one hand and took away hope with the other. Studies into the marine precinct and range crossings took a lot of time to be revealed, with Far Northerners waiting with bated breath for their release. But there is only a stone wall in the Cairns to Northern Tablelands Access Strategy, which says the Kuranda Range Road doesn’t need major upgrades for 30 years.

The 25-year $1.6m planning study reports that the range crossing is just fine and that there is nothing major to do for three decades.

It’s a slap in face for the Tablelands, a fast-growing area with agricultural might. It effectively rules out the potential for any form of growth.

Instead it offers workarounds for the short to medium term which while welcome does not address what must be done in the longer term.

The 2051 timeframe is based on a one per cent growth rate which flies in the face of everything road users and Far Northern stakeholders know.

Why should FNQ be forced to say no to further development or economic and lifestyle opportunities like Kur-World, which finally failed due to a lack of capacity on the range?

It’s a giant snub to commuters who are putting up with the Barron Bridge and the endless lane pain there while Far Northerners cast their eyes to the “Great South East” and watch with envy as their taxes are sprinkled over projects like the almost $6bn Cross River Rail.

Barron River MP Craig Crawford and his government won’t have to wait 30 years to find out what Far Northerners think about their lack of strategy and support on this one.