Iwasaki says ‘no’ to council on land acquisition at Capricorn Coast

The possibility of Livingstone Shire Council taking steps to resume land for a new Farnborough Beach 4WD access has been discussed at length.

The view looking north on Farnborough Beach. File photo.

Livingstone Shire Council will face an uphill battle if it seeks to resume land owned by Iwasaki Sangyo Company to solve the Farnborough Beach 4WD safety issue.

The council would only go down that path if ultimately it decided that a new beach access north of the existing Bangalee one was the solution to the ongoing saga.

At the council’s July ordinary meeting, Councillor Andrea Friend asked Livingstone’s manager Engineering Services Tony Lau if the council had approached the neighbouring property owner (Iwasaki Sangyo Company) in relation to the issue.

Mr Lau revealed that the council had.

“Their response was negative,” Mr Lau said.

“They indicated they would not support any land acquisition through their land.”

Ms Friend then said the council had come “full circle” with a lot of hard work from all of its officers and staff.

“We’ve come full circle to the same issues that we’re going to have moving forward into the future,” she said.

More and more people are enjoying four-wheel-driving, surfing, and fishing at Farnborough Beach.

Calls for a safety upgrade at the access ramp to Farnborough Beach were renewed in 2019 when Yeppoon woman Clair Fitzpatrick spoke out after losing her partner Chris Poulsen in a freak accident at the site.

His accident occurred while trying to help another driver, his friend, get off the beach north of Yeppoon when the tow strap snapped back through his windscreen, hitting and killing him.

At the July council meeting this year, it appeared that a permit system for motorists using Farnborough Beach has been all but thrown on the scrap heap by Livingstone as it continues to figure out what to do about safety concerns.

Councillor Pat Eastwood weighed into the debate on the issue by calling on the community to “dob in a donut.”

Also at the meeting, Mayor Andy Ireland revealed who authorities said was responsible for causing four-wheel-drive destruction in the dunes at Farnborough Beach.

WHAT COUNCILLORS DECIDED IN JULY, 2021

Councillors ultimately decided Livingstone would only expend necessary funds to maintain Bangalee ramps to allow them to function.

They also stood strong on a commitment to investigate an alternate/additional Farnborough Beach/Big Dune Beach vehicle access, north of Bangalee, in order to address current and future growth.

Councillors also voted for a report to come back to the October meeting in relation to the development of a traffic management strategy.

Councillors further decided that a public meeting would be held with the Bangalee community and interested stakeholders.

The purpose of that meeting would be to get more input from the public in relation to a potential new or alternate access to Farnborough Beach.