Mangrove-destroying road dumped

BY BILL MASON

BRISBANE -- The Queensland government has decided to drop the controversial Mackay East-West Connector Road project after a six-year campaign by conservationists, anglers and businesspeople.

In an April 14 announcement, minister for main roads Steve Bredhauer said the road would not proceed because a long and costly legal battle was likely.

In early April, the Queensland Fisheries Tribunal agreed that the Mackay Conservation Group and the Mackay branch of the Bird Observers Club of Australia should be able to appeal against a decision to grant a permit to destroy mangroves to make way for the road.

Mackay Conservation Group spokesperson Peter McCallum said that the government's move was a surprise but was “very welcome”. “The road would have destroyed twice the number of mangroves that were cleared for the controversial Port Hinchinbrook development. Up to 90,000 mangrove trees would have been destroyed and several threatened species would have been impacted upon.”

McCallum said that the most positive outcome of the campaign was that the government has decided to put $100,000 into restoration of the Sandfly Creek mangrove system, allocate $50,000 into research into mangroves in Mackay and added 22.7 hectares to the Bassett Basin fish habitat reserve.

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