A THIN stretch of land between Tom Lenihan Park and Rosewood Showgrounds is hot property at the moment but not for reasons you may think.
It’s not developers after the lot but members of the Queensland Rollingstock Preservation Group (QRPQ) who want to use the land to store several rollingstock memorabilia items.
A Rosewood resident who contacted the Moreton Border News said the idea itself was causing ‘quite a stir’ because the land was considered unkempt and a problem by nearby homeowners.
“[QRPQ] are trying to get permission from the Rosewood Railway Museum to dump a number of rollingstock items on the land, to be kept there for a very long time,” he said.
“That land has never been properly maintained and its owners [Rosewood Railway Museum] claim they don’t have the manpower to do the job and volunteer staff are too old to mow the grass.
“Some people use it to dump trash so homeowners have taken matters into their own hands and maintained parts of the strip themselves and at their own expense.”
The land in question extends from Railway Street to Karrabin-Rosewood Road and meanders its way between the Tom Lenihan Park and Rosewood Showgrounds, continuing up to Karrabin-Rosewood Road for approximately one kilometre.
Residents living near the land said the long grass would present a fire hazard when the frost hits it in Winter or the heat, in Summer.
“With all the rain we have received this summer season, the grass growth is staggering and maintaining the area is a constant battle,” he said.
“Along with the items to be placed on this location the intention long term is to re-establish the tiny railway station currently on site which has been unused for close to 15 years and is badly vandalised and weather damaged,” he said.
“They are also hoping to run an old rail motor on the line for tourists to travel around the hills at the back of Rosewood up to Kunkala.
“This will require a complete bridge to be rebuilt as it was damaged in the 2011 flood.
“This area has an established railway line as it once carried coal from the old Oakleigh coal mine north of Rosewood which means large items like locomotives can be off loaded straight onto railway lines and moved over the site.”
