Dredging to finally begin

Creek work scheduled for next month

THE state government’s fouryear promise to dredge Molongle Creek will come to fruition next month.

The dredging will create alltide access for Molongle Creek boaties, and the new channel will be widened to 12m and deepened to 2m below Lowest Astronomical Tide to guarantee all-tide access out to Cape Upstart and offshore waters.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said Sunshine Coast-based company Hall Contracting had been awarded a $3.1m contract to complete the dredging.

“This project will support 24 jobs when it gets going,” Mr Bailey said.

“It will remove more than 120,000 cubic metres of sediment from the shallow access channel, shaping a new channel for boaties.

“That’s going to be music to the ears for members of the Burdekin Volunteer Marine Rescue team and the Molongle Creek Boat Club, who have been keen to see this work provide safer all-tide access for the Burdekin area.

“Halls plan to start dredging soon as the pipeline to the new disposal area is set up.

“We are aiming to have the works completed by the end of the year, weather permitting.”

He said the dredging work would comply with state and federal environmental approvals, and a disposal facility completed in March would ensure dredge material was appropriately contained and disposed of.

Mr Bailey said water quality monitoring would be carried out during the works.

He described the wait for the project as “prolonged and at times frustrating” and thanked the community for their patience.

But Burdekin MP Dale Last said the community “have a right to know why the Transport Minister allowed such a vital project to drag on for so long”.

“This is a project that I have personally spoken about in parliament several times, attended a rally and fought to bring about a positive outcome for the more than 200 hut owners at Cape Upstart,” Mr Last said.

“It’s disappointing that in those four years, there were a number of marine accidents and medical incidents where not having all-tide access at Molongle has left volunteers stranded and a victim of stonefish sting left to stick his foot in hot water and ride it out …

“The reality is, if this project was in the southeast it would have been well and truly done by now, and instead a community’s frustrations were left to reach boiling point.”