IPSWICH – Hundreds of cars each week will head down a dirt road designed for access to half a dozen farms following a bureaucratic approval of a major extension to Spicers Hidden Vale.
Property owners at Doonans Road, Grandchester raised concerns this week that the local road would become the main entrance to Bubbling Springs Adventure Park, an extension to the resort featuring accommodation and mountain bike trails.
While Grandchester – Mount Mort Road is the main entry to Spicers Hidden Vale, the new development takes traffic down Doonans Road under approval granted by Ipswich City Council planning officers in June.
Doonans Road resident Michael Cunnington said the approved development would create “a disaster on what was already a dangerous and poorly maintained road”.
Mr Cunnington said he lodged an appeal against the use of Doonans Road with Council and called for Grandchester – Mount Mort Road to be upgraded but his concerns were ignored.
“Doonans Road is an unsealed road and we have dust drifting into our homes with the current volume of traffic,” Mr Cunnington said.
“Our houses are close to the road. It is not a through-road for local traffic. It is for residents only.
“The residents are generational farmers who use both sides of the road with day to day activities such as cattle movement, hay bailing and farm machinery. This is our livelihood and it will be compromised.
“It is currently a quiet country area that is safe for us to continue our farming duties. If this road is used as a main access road our safety will be jeopardised.
“Where was the community consultation in regards to the residents’ feelings and concerns?”
Division 1 councillors Sheila Ireland and Jacob Madsen said they had spoken to Doonans Road residents about issues with the height of the road and road safety but they were not involved in the approval of the Bubbling Springs development.
The council decision highlights issues with changes brought in under interim administrator Greg Chemello taking planning decisions out of the hands of elected councillors in favour of planning officers making decisions on major development applications under delegated authority.
Previously major development applications would have gone before the council’s planning committee chairman and the local councillor with an option to bring applications of concern to the community before the council for a vote.
The approved plans for the first stage of the campground detail an estimated 50 cars a day accessing the site via Doonans Road with a maximum of 90 people on site and 30 tents occupied.
The approval conditions require the developers to install warning signs along Doonans Road and road safety treatment and requires an upgrade of the intersection at Doonans Road and Laidley-Grandchester Road and flood mitigation works. The developer also has to enter into a maintenance agreement with council for Doonans Road.
During stage two, the campground is approved to expand to 61 cars a day with 153 people on site and 51 camp sites. At that stage developers would be required to upgrade Doonans Road with localised widening at curves on the road and sealing for dust suppression.
The third stage of the development would expand the campground and exclude day visitors, taking the numbers to 92 cars a day and a maximum of 290 people on site with 99 occupied camp sites.
Day visitors would then be required to access the bike trails via Grandchester Mt Mort Road. However no further upgrades to Doonans Road would be required under the approval.
The approval meanwhile requires the developer to construct a concrete or bitumen car park, driveway and crossover on to the dirt road, Doonans Road.
Member for Blair Shayne Neumann said he had been contacted by residents at Doonans Road about the development and met with residents on site.
He said he was surprised ongoing issues with the safety of Doonans Road were not addressed before the council considered a development application approving use of the road as the main entry.
“Michael expressed to me his major concerns in Doonans Road becoming the main access road to Spicers and he told me that they had been unsuccessful in their attempts to get the Ipswich City Council to take steps to remediate the situation to fix the road, to make it safe,” Mr Neumann said.
“These people are ratepayers who live in Ipswich, just because they are living in Grandchester doesn’t mean they should be treated as second class citizens.”
An Ipswich City Council spokesman said while operated by Spicers, the Bubbling Springs development was separate to Spicers Hidden Vale and would be accessed via Doonans Road.
“Through the development application process, the applicant demonstrated that with appropriate safety upgrades the facility is able to be accessed via Doonans Road,” he said.
“The required upgrades include the need for the operator to enter into a maintenance agreement with council to ensure Doonans Road is appropriately maintained having regard to the increased level of traffic on this rural road.”
The spokesman said council officers recently met with Doonans Road residents about the condition of the road and asked the residents to lodge a formal service request to meet with a roads maintenance team member on-site to discuss their concerns further.
Spicers Retreats Group Sustainability Product and Design Manager Claire Baguley said the use of Doonans Rd was carefully considered in the Development Approval process in close consultation with residents.
She said the group intended to start work on the Bubbling Springs campsite towards the end of this year and hoped to welcome people to the campsite mid-2022.
