Community responds to master plan for future of Farnborough Beach
The community has spoken - here’s what more than 650 people said about what they want for popular four-wheel-drive spot Farnborough Beach and what the local council will do now.
Rockhampton
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Livingstone Shire Council will ask for more police patrols of Farnborough Beach after the community had its say on a master plan for the popular four-wheel-driving stretch’s future.
A total of 654 people responded to the council’s most recent public engagement drive for the Farnborough Beach Master Plan.
Three quarters said they wanted to see the existing access ramp at Bangalee, off Hinz Avenue, upgraded to allow better boat launching on and off the beach.
A very similar number of respondents, about 73 per cent, said they supported an additional Farnborough Beach access point for four-wheel drives and motorbikes, north of the Iwasaki resort via Sandy Point Road.
But the biggest show of support came for a proposed upgrading of “the back road” up to Sandy Point National Park, to allow both 4WD and 2WD users who may not want to go onto Farnborough Beach.
Some 508 people were in favour of that approach.
The public engagement results come as council documents show there have been five concerning vehicle accidents on Farnborough Beach between 2017 and 2022 - the worst being a fatality in 2017 when Christopher Poulsen lost his life while trying to help another driver at the Bangalee access.
Also in 2017 there was an overturned vehicle which resulted in hospitalisation.
In 2018 there was a sideswipe incident which led to hospitalisation and in 2020, minor injury was suffered after a vehicle overturned.
In 2022, a vehicle overturned resulting in hospitalisation.
At the latest monthly council meeting, councillors resolved to ask the Queensland Government for more police monitoring and patrolling of Farnborough Beach.
Councillors also decided to keep maintaining the existing ramp at Hinz Avenue while continuing to progress the development of a Traffic and Beach Access Management Strategy.
The council will also complete a business case for the upgrading of the existing Bangalee access with the intent to improve “safe and accessible separated pedestrian and vehicle access”.
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Originally published as Community responds to master plan for future of Farnborough Beach
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