Community Noticeboard – Page 24 – Paluma

Fund Raising for the PRFB

Paluma Rural Fire Brigade (PRFB) wish to sincerely thank the following people for the very successful fundraising event of $400 for the Brigade at the recent Book Stall at the Easter Sunday market.

Peter and Jan Cooke and George and Kathryn McNaughton for their very generous donation of many books for resale which were pouring out the doors in people’s arms. Also to Jan for donating the proceeds of her home-made cooking to the cause and for her brilliant idea in the first place and making it happen. It is very much appreciated.

Ross Hyne, PRFB First Officer & Sonya Bryce, PRFB Secretary/Treasurer

ANZAC Day Dawn Service

Residents and visitors of Paluma Village are advised that there will be a short service to acknowledge ANZAC Day on Monday 25th April at 6 AM.

Please congregate at the Flag Pole at the Paluma Community Hall for a short ceremony including raising of the flag and a minute of silence.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

LEST WE FORGET

TMR Range Road Update

QPWS Burning This Week

Attention: Paluma Residents, Visitors & Users of Mount Spec Road

QPWS are conducting controlled burning on Mt Spec Road this week.

QPWS wish to advise that they will be conducting a prescribed burn on Mt Spec Road on Wednesday March 30, 2022 (weather permitting). Approximate hours of operation are from 1500 to 1800. Please be aware that smoke may impact Mt Spec Road. Traffic control will be in place for the duration.

TMR Range Road Works in April

Good Afternoon Mt Spec Stakeholders,

The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) is planning a program of geotechnical investigation works on Mt Spec Road throughout April 2022. These investigations will assist TMR to plan and prioritise future works along Mt Spec Road, including high risk slopes and drainage improvements.

We are providing Mt Spec stakeholders with early notification of the proposed works and traffic impacts, and seeking feedback to assist with the planning and scheduling of the works. If you have any questions, concerns or feedback about these upcoming works, please get in touch as soon as possible to enable us to feed this information back to the project team and contractor.

Details of the proposed works are as follows:

Expected start date: Week commencing 4 April 2022
Expected duration of works: Three weeks, weather permitting
Works hours: 6am to 6pm, Monday to Sunday (rotating 10 day roster)
Works details: Geotechnical investigations including drilling of boreholes to test soil and rock conditions. The investigations will be completed at approximately 20 sites along the length of Mt Spec Road.
Traffic impacts:

Light vehicles

o Light vehicles will be permitted to travel on Mt Spec Road at all times during the works.

o Delays of up to 30 minutes may be experienced at the start and end of the day (around 6.00-6.30am in the morning and from 5.30-6pm in the afternoon) while the drilling rig is unloaded and loaded.

o Delays of up to 5 minutes may be experienced during the remaining works hours.

Heavy vehicles including buses and trucks

o Due to the size of the drilling rig and width of the road, access will be restricted for heavy vehicles, including buses and trucks, during the Geotech works.

o Buses and trucks will only be permitted to travel on Mt Spec Road when prior arrangements have been made with TMR. (We have already been in contact with some stakeholders in regards to bus movements)

o Prior arrangements will ensure that crews can schedule works and move equipment to accommodate buses and trucks.

o Delays of several hours may be experienced if buses and trucks travel on the range without prior arrangement as the drilling rig will need to be moved off the range before vehicles can pass.

Changed traffic conditions: Single lane closures, speed restrictions and traffic controllers will be in place during the works.
Emergency services access will be maintained.
Communications: TMR will issue Notices to Residents and Motorists prior to works commencing. The QLDTraffic website will include details of the works and changed traffic conditions.

We welcome feedback from all Mt Spec stakeholders about these planned works. If you believe you will be impacted by these works, please get in touch so we can discuss further and provide feedback to the project team to assist with planning of the works. If possible, it would be appreciated if you could make minor changes to your travel on Mt Spec Road to factor in the planned works.

Contact details:

Email – engagement.northern@tmr.qld.gov.au Phone – 1800 625 648

Thank you for continued patience and understanding during works on Mt Spec Road.

Kind regards

Kelly Stolz

Customer and Stakeholder Management
Northern District | Department of Transport and Main Roads

The 2022 Paluma Social Calendar

The 2022 Paluma Social Calendar is out and it promises to be a jam-packed year of social events and activities. We have tried to cater for all interests with a diverse range of events planned over the course of the year. Whether you’re into dancing, dining, fungi, frogs, cycling, cooking, yarning, relaxing, running, raging, bird watching, bocce, gardening, history, hiking, table tennis, trivia, nature or the arts, there is surely something for everyone to participate in and enjoy. If you can’t find something to do at Paluma, then you’re just not trying!

In addition to the PDCA Social Events, there are the many other activities going on around the village from time to time with the Townsville Bushwalking Club, the Paluma After Dark Club, Outer Limits Adventures and other group activities. We will endeavour to let you know about these events as they come up over the course of the year.

The PDCA Social Sub-Committee is always happy to hear from Paluma residents with suggestions for future events and activities. We’d love to hear your ideas, so please let us know by having a chat with Lynda, Michele or Lynn.

Below is a quick snapshot of some of the many activities on the 2022 Paluma Social Calendar. Stay tuned to the website for regular reminders and updates throughout the year.

Join in people. You only live once and what a great place to live!

Planned Social Events in 2022

Saturday 19 March 6.30 PM – St. Patricks Night

Saturday 23 April 12.00 PM – PDCA Annual General Meeting & Free BBQ Lunch

Saturday 7 May 5.00 PM – Games Night with Captain Klumpp & Sausage Sizzle

Saturday 14 May 4.00 PM – Watercolours & Wine Workshop with Colwyn Campbell

Sunday 17 April – Paluma Market

Saturday 25 June 12.00 PM – Bush Dance with Wattle n Gum & BBQ Lunch

Sunday 26 June – Paluma Market

Sat/Sun 16 & 17 July – Paluma Push (Outer Limits Event)

Saturday 30 July 6.30 PM – Trivia Night hosted by Lynda Radbone

Saturday 20 August 6.30 PM – Back to the 50’s Night

Saturday 17 September 6.30 PM – International Night

Sunday 2 October – Paluma Market

Sat/Sun 29 & 30 October – Paluma Trail Run (Outer Limits Event)

Saturday 12 November 6.30 PM – Monsters and Mayhem on the Mountain

Saturday 10 December 6.30 PM – Tropical BBQ

TMR Range Road Survey Works

Paluma After Dark Club

Saturday Night, 8 pm, Potters Park. Bring a torch

For a small community, Paluma could be said to have a fairly active schedule of evening events throughout the year, but on most nights the village is pretty quiet – in terms of human activity. However this statement belies the fact that our village and surrounding forest have a very active and often noisy nightlife.

Over the last year or so, following the lead of my son Michael, I have been taking nighttime walks through the village local tracks to see what I could see and hear. With the help of a head torch, binoculars and a frog call recording app on my iPhone I have been able to identify most of the more common and easily detected animals.

Common sightings include bandicoots, Pademelons, barred frogs (on wet nights) native rats. Less common to rare, and mostly not yet seen by me at night are Dingos, pythons, nightigers, Feather-tailed gliders, Possums, and even (over a decade ago) a spotted-tailed quoll.

Common sounds include 2 species of frog (again on wet nights), the thumps of unseen Pademelons retreating into the forest, and the piercing buzz of cicadas (as yet unidentified), Babook owls and Lesser Sooty Owl

Not every evening walk results in a sighting, although after heavy rain, frogs are just about guaranteed. And of course the tiny gleaming eyes of wolf spiders and the ever-present sound of cidadas mean that no night walk is without signs of life.

I am keen to continue to go on a regular night walks around the village and perhaps along the road out to the Dam this year. I invite anyone who is interested to join an unofficial “Paluma After Dark Club” and spend an hour or so every couple of months to see what we can record and discover. The inaugural walk will be this Saturday evening (February 26). Meet at Potters Park opposite 27 Lennox Cr at 8 pm.

Bring a head torch, preferably a bright one that can be focused to a narrow beam. Binoculars are also surprising useful to identify mammals and night birds once they are in the beam of a spotlight.

If the first event garners sufficient interest, we might also consider bringing some experts on specific groups up to give us a talk and a guided walk.

Text and Photos by Jamie Oliver

Works Planned for Paluma Dam Road

On Monday (21 February) I heard a media release that the next stage of road upgrading works are soon to commence on the Paluma Dam Road. The following information has been sourced from the Townsville City Council website for the information of Paluma residents and users of both the Paluma Range Road and the Paluma Dam Road. For more information please contact Townsville City Council or Mendi Group direct.

Date published: TCC Website 18 February 2022

Townsville City Council has contracted local business Mendi Group to undertake the second stage of repairs to sections of Paluma Dam Access Road which were damaged during the 2021 wet season.

Council has received over $540,000 in funding under the joint Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) to undertake the works.

Council Infrastructure Services Committee chairperson Kurt Rehbein said the first stage of the works were completed in late-2021 as part of Council’s annual maintenance of the road.

“Stage two will involve more detailed works to repair significant damage to a number of sections of drainage along the 11 km dirt stretch,” Cr Rehbein said.

“The works will include the addition of a new layer of gravel along the length of the road, or resheeting as it is commonly known.”

“Mendi Group will conduct the remediation works, which will support approximately 20 local jobs.

“The road will remain open for the duration of the works, however there may be some minor traffic delays and we thank the community for their cooperation and their patience as this work is completed.”

Works start next week and are expected to take three weeks, weather permitting.

Chinese New Year Social this Saturday 19 February

It’s a new year and time to kick off the Paluma Village social calendar for 2022!

This Saturday evening 19 February, the first Social of the year will be held at the Paluma Community Hall. It’s the Chinese New Year celebration and the ‘Year of the Tiger’.

Everyone is welcome to join in the celebration commencing at 6.30 pm at the Hall. As always, please bring a dish to share – hot or cold, sweet or savoury. The theme of the night is all things Chinese, so perhaps test your culinary skills with a Chinese inspired dish? Last years banquet of Chinese dishes was remarkable, so let’s see if we can go one better this year? Ever reliable Barman Les will be on hand to serve low-cost beverages on the night.

Local artist Jennie Robinson was so inspired by the ‘Year of the Tiger’ she has created an amazing tiger portrait. Jennie has kindly donated her masterpiece to the Paluma community (PDCA) and so we will be holding a raffle for the painting on the night. Tickets are $1.00 each or 5 for $5.00 – absolute bargain. Please see Michele or Les next weekend for tickets – anytime on Saturday or on the night. The winner will be drawn at the Social.

Please come along to what will surely be another fun night at Paluma Village.