Thomson River Master Plan to be put forward in May
Longreach Regional Council has confirmed that the Thomson River Master Plan will be put forward for adoption at the May Council meeting, instead of at the April meeting as originally planned.
Council says the turnaround, between the end of the public comment period and the deadline for April agenda items, was too tight to give staff and the planners time to finalise the document. Councillors, staff, and consultants from planning and design firm Urbis are currently considering all the submissions made by the community. Following this process a final draft will be prepared by the planners, to be presented for adoption at the May Council Meeting.
Mayor Tony Rayner said the feedback had been overwhelmingly positive, with approximately 71% of respondents broadly supportive of the initiative.
“The plan has a lot of support from our community, and that’s no surprise because we’ve been talking to them at various stages through the development of the plan” he said. “Some people though, although supportive of the project, have legitimate concerns about flooding and maintenance issues.”
“Council is very aware of those concerns too, but we see plenty of ways to address them going forward. Those factors have been part of the brief on this project from day one, and we’re confident in the expertise of our planners. They have extremely relevant experience in similar situations, with their recent work on the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton being a prime example.”
The Mayor said despite these common concerns, locals had provided some valuable feedback that Council was currently considering for incorporation in the plan.
“One example of some valuable feedback in the comment period was about delineating between different on-water activities either side of the old bridge” he said. “This came up early in our stakeholder consultations and we’re considering different ways we can capture and address that feedback in the final draft.
“We’re also considering how we can best emphasise revegetation and rehabilitation of the natural landscape in the precinct.”
Cr Rayner said moving the final draft from April to May wouldn’t make too much of an impact.
“This kind of work is very important for communities to undertake, because it acts as a catalyst for sustainable investment and growth. Once the final plan is adopted, it’ll provide a blueprint for decades worth of government and private investment.
“We think it’s important to take the extra time, because this plan will be a long term vision for the future of our river, one that we’ll be working towards for ten, fifteen, thirty years or more.”