Three Bangalee residents appointed to a new group trying to fix 4WD beach safety

The issue of 4WD beach safety is a bit like the never-ending story for the Capricorn Coast, so will this new approach finally find the answers? Here are the people who have been tasked to make it happen.

Clair Fitzpatrick has previously rallied for safer 4WD beach access at Farnborough/Bangalee. File photo.

Three Bangalee residents have been appointed to a new group which is seeking to find elusive answers to a four-wheel-drive safety issue that has plagued a popular Capricorn Coast beach for years.

It was revealed at this month’s Livingstone Shire Council meeting, the establishment of the Bangalee Beach Access Reference Group and its make-up.

The group consists of a mix of the general public, councillors, council officers, a State MP, and wider community representatives.

The group’s main mission is to work out what can be done to address safety concerns with the existing Bangalee access to Farnborough Beach - an issue that has been debated since Cr Adam Belot raised it at council back in late-2019.

“Safety is a huge issue and virtually all of the residents in the Bangalee area want council to look at other alternate northern accesses,” Cr Belot said in December of 2019.

The general issue of beach safety again reared its head at the weekend after five people were ejected from the back of a ute when it rolled at Five Rocks.

Two teenagers, a female and a male, were taken to Rockhampton Hospital and a Queensland Health spokeswoman on Monday morning said the pair had since been discharged.

Clair Fitzpatrick rallied for safer beach access.

Calls for a safety upgrade at the Bangalee access ramp were renewed months prior to Cr Belot’s words in late-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.

Since then, many ideas have been thrown up for discussion, including a possible permit system for Farnborough/Bangalee Beach drivers, but none of the ideas have either stuck or been implemented.

The council has also discussed the possibility of resuming land at Bangalee to accommodate a solution.

The three Bangalee residents appointed to the new Bangalee Beach Access Reference Group are Helen Schweikert, Gary Hourn and Ian Doherty.

There are also three “wider community representatives” on the group - Surfrider Foundation Capricorn Coast, Fitzroy Basin Association (tentatively Rebecca French) and Queensland Police Service (tentatively Erin Shawcross).

Cr Adam Belot.

The Livingstone councillors on the group are Adam Belot, Pat Eastwood and Andrea Friend and they are joined by three of council’s officers.

Member for Keppel Brittany Lauga also has a place on the group.

Council documents state a reference group is the appropriate forum to involve community members in the decision-making process.

“A steering committee, which traditionally has power to make decisions and provide approvals, was deemed not appropriate as the project is likely to require actions that necessitate council resolutions to proceed,” the documents say.

The Bangalee Beach Access Reference Group will be responsible for, but not limited to:

- Distributing information and keeping stakeholders informed.

- Collating responses and feedback from stakeholders to council.

- Representing the Bangalee residents and stakeholders at meetings with council

officers.

- Making recommendations to council on matters that require approval.

- Make decisions and provide approval on matters within the scope of the Terms of Reference.