By Dominique Tassell
Southern Downs Regional Council has passed a motion to permanently close sections of First Avenue in Morgan Park.
The closures were put forward to Council in two separate motions.
The first application passed was requesting to close half the width, or 20 metres, of the road reserve.
Several options were given for how to fix the issue, including constructing a new road and closing sections off.
One of the options provided within the condition is for the applicant to undertake the process to permanently close First Avenue.
If Council objects to this application and the Department of Resources refuse the road closure application, the applicant will be required to seal First Avenue, despite being provided with previous advice that a road closure was an acceptable alternative.
The document stated that while it is not an ideal situation, Council needs to be mindful that if the road is to be constructed it will be additional infrastructure to be maintained by Council in the future.
Infrastructure Services stated they do not have an objection to the application for permanent road closure over part of First Avenue, Morgan Park.
The Manager of Planning and Development stated that whilst having half the road reserve closed is not ideal, it does comply with the Negotiated Decision Notice dated 18 February 2020.
The second motion dealt with a second portion of First Avenue.
The document similarly debated constructing a new road or closing off part of the road.
Previously in 2019, Council offered no objection to an application to close half of the width of First Avenue, Morgan Park adjoining the current application area, and amalgamate it with the property to the north of the road reserve.
Infrastructure Services did not have an objection to the application for permanent road closure over part of First Avenue, Morgan Park.
Similar to the first motion, it was noted that any new construction would need to be maintained by Council.
It was further noted that in this instance half of the road reserve has already been closed by the landowner to the north.
In the Council meeting, Councillor Cynthia McDonald requested to know whether any neighbours had provided feedback on the proposed changes.
A staff member responded that any consultation would have been handled by the Department of Natural Resources.
Councillor Stephen Tancred questioned whether Council was satisfied that the adjoining properties will have adequate access after the road closure.
A staff member responded that this was part o the purpose of the closure.
The motion was then moved by Councillor Andrew Gale, seconded by Councillor Marco Gliori, and carried unanimously.
