Free Land Opportunity in Far North Queensland.
Other reasons that make this area desirable include the fact that it is away from the worst ravages of cyclones which, exacerbated by climate change, are likely to increase in intensity and frequency.
It is also away from the arterial highways that wind up the mountains from Cairns.
These are becoming increasingly past their use-by-date as the escalating rate of traffic causes more congestion and delays. Also, both these highways are easily rendered impassable so as to create utter chaos at just the times they would be of paramount importance (e.g. tsunami or just a big storm surge, bad cyclone, invasion, pandemics etc.) We have a superior access using the Palmerston Highway from Innisfail and the Kennedy Highway west through Mt Garnet (2 hrs) which joins the sealed Gregory Development Road for an inland trip back to Townsville.
There are hundreds of square mile of this lease/licenced land but in just the immediate area, there is Butler’s dam as well as Coolgarra dam and many smaller ones and even more seasonal creeks.
Coolgarra dam was built to supply a whole township. There is also Wyndham Dam almost directly north of Mt Garnet.... on which at least ten million dollars has just been spent. This flows immediately into Crooks Dam which has had even more extensive repair work at 2-3 times that expense.... all from the tax payers in these hard times when the Government says there is no money ….
Ergon Energy 33 000 volt mains-power lines go through this area as well as telephone infrastructure. With very little work necessary to provide reticulated water, this area is ripe for development as smaller retirement blocks, industrial estates and environmental parks aimed at the eco-tourist industry.
An influx of people to the district would benefit not only Mt Garnet but all the other communities and villages in this area with its rich mining heritage and fossicking areas…Irvinebank, Herberton, Innot Hot Springs, Ravenshoe and through to Chillagoe and Almaden. And where people go, businesses and employment opportunities are created.
Instead of the death knoll that is presently sounding, a thriving community would result from what was once the poorest shire in Queensland....which serves as a clear indicator as to how much both mining and the cattle industry return to their community.
We all thought that when a major player like Kagarra Zinc came to town that the town would flourish....but it made not one iota of different....except that when the company folded, it left its debts as well as its legacy of heavy metal contamination. These predators just have to go.
As in other communities, the present large land "holders" do their deals with the "public servants" and corruption runs rampant. It is "the Wild West" and we need new settlers and their voices to facilitate change.
The fact is we need a whole paradigm shift if we humans as a species are to even survive. We need a change in the totality of our thoughts, perceptions and values and you people are the ones in a position to take positive action.
If we can get these OLs revoked and end the environmental devastation that they have produced; by expanding our rural communities and encouraging their prosperity through a change in the demographics from the cities to rural occupation, active steps will have been taken towards creating a sustainable future.