Local Issues – Page 2 – Paluma – our village in the mist

Two Metres of Rain and Counting……

Here’s a rainfall update from Barry Smith for November and the year to date….

We have had 145 mm of rain for November 2022 with 18 days of rain this month.

For 2022, we have cracked the 2 metre mark with 2,080.4 mm so far to 29 November. Judging from the forecast, it looks like plenty more rain to come before the year is out.

Paluma’s rainfall recorders are a dedicated bunch, never missing a day in checking the gauge and recording the rainfall figures.

Special thanks go to all the volunteers for their great work in 2022, including Barry Smith for recording the week day rainfall, with back-up assistance when required from Tracy Cooper and Rick Roveda. Peter Cooke and Michele Bird do the recording on the weekend. Other keen volunteers step in from time to time when called upon. Great work everyone in keeping these important records for our little village in the mist (and rain).

Attention All Paluma Ratepayers

Notice To All Paluma Ratepayers

You are invited to attend a public meeting on Saturday the 24^th September at 10:00 am at the Paluma Community Centre.

The meeting is being held to discuss the setting of the Fire Levy for 2023.

Come along and also find out what the brigade is up to over a cuppa and piece of cake.

If there are any queries in the lead up to the meeting, please contact:

Sonya Bryce – Treasurer/Secretary of Paluma Rural Fire Brigade on email: sonyab360@gmail.com

Calling on Paluma’s Cooks…..

There is a proposal to run a Cake Stall at the next upcoming Paluma Community Market on Sunday 26 June (after the Bush Dance on 25 June).

We are calling on all of Paluma’s amazing cooks to contribute to the cake stall by donating a batch of your favourite baked goods – buns, muffins, slices or other delights that we can sort into small batches for sale at the stall.

The proceeds from the stall to go to the PDCA.

Lynn and Michele are coordinating this initiative so if you would like to volunteer and cook a batch of your favourite recipe for the stall please register your interest with us in the near future.

Michele at: mbird09@bigpond.com

Lynn at: lhyland@optusnet.com.au

Colwyn’s Track – The Grand Opening

‘Colwyn’s Track’ was sign-posted and opened over the Easter long weekend on Sunday 17 April 2022. This upgraded walking track commences at the western end of Paluma Village taking walkers through to the end of Hussey Road and then on to Ethel Creek Falls. Wilfred and his merry band of track volunteers including Colin, Jamie and others have spent many long hours clearing fallen trees and debris from the once disused track, so that it is now safe and accessible for walkers to enjoy.

The Track was named in honour of Colwyn Campbell, one of Paluma’s long-time residents, an avid track walker, nature lover and artist. The story goes that Colwyn walked the track some time ago, before the final upgrading work was completed. She commented to Wilfred that the track was ‘a bit rough’ and needed some further work. That further work took place, much to Colwyn’s satisfaction and final approval.

The installation of the new sign for ‘Colwyn’s Track’ took place on Saturday 16 April. Wilfred and Colin undertook the hard work under the expert supervision and direction of Jill and Michele. The opening of the Track then took place on Sunday afternoon at 4 pm. Despite the incessant rain all day on Sunday, a sizeable crowd gathered with umbrellas and raincoats at the newly erected sign. Colwyn unveiled the very attractive new signage and cut the ribbon (pink surveyors tape) to ‘officially’ open the new track. The Klumpps kindly hosted celebratory drinks and snacks on their veranda (out of the rain) after the track opening.

Colwyn has asked me to pass on the following message to the Paluma Community:-

“I feel overwhelmed by the generosity and support my wonderful Paluma ‘family’ has given me over the years. And now, I feel especially honoured to have a walking track named for me. I admire the work Wilfred and the team have done and are doing, in opening and maintaining the old timber and tin trails; allowing people a glimpse of this fascinating environment and its history and am thrilled to be associated, vicariously with their hard work. THANK YOU EVERYONE“.

Special thanks to Wilfred for this initiative and the naming of ‘Colwyn’s Track’ in acknowledgement of one of Paluma’s most beloved residents and nature lovers.

Below are photographs of the Saturday (16 April) installation of the new track signage by Wilfred and Colin and the Sunday (17 April) opening ceremony with the community. (My apologies for the somewhat blurry images from Sunday, but it is a bit challenging to take good photographs in the pouring rain).

Text & Photos by Michele Bird

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

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.

Not Quite 100……?

Our weekday weatherman and rainfall recorder, Barry from PEEC, reports that Paluma received 98.8 mm in the BOM rain gauge over the past 24 hours to Wednesday morning (26 January). However, Barry notes that his Nylex rain gauge at PEEC recorded 106 mm in the past 24 hours.

Don from the outer Republic of Hussey Road reported 75 mm and he said that Hidden Valley reported 30 mm.

With the monsoon about, it looks as though there might be more rain to come. Here’s hoping the wet season has finally arrived.

Any other notable recordings in and around the village?

New Defibrillator at the Community Hall

ATTENTION ALL PALUMA RESIDENTS

A new Defibrillator is now installed at the Community Hall.

The unit is in a cabinet which is mounted on the outside wall of the Community Hall, next to the main entry door to the Hall. Please take a look at the photographs below to familiarise yourself with the location of the unit.

New signage indicating that the unit is available at the Community Hall will be installed at the front and side of the Hall.

The cabinet is unlocked and it is alarmed (with a siren). The siren will go off as soon as the cabinet is opened, but it stops again when the door is shut. We are hoping that the siren/alarm will deter any would-be vandals from interfering with the unit.

May we please request that if any nearby residents hear the alarm going off that they investigate to either provide assistance in a genuine emergency, or chase away any idiots or vandals who might be interfering with the unit.

We are hoping that the current arrangement will work and that vandals will refrain from interfering with the Defibrillator. The preference is that we do not lock the cabinet, as this would mean that in an emergency people would have to seek out the key or the security code to get access to the unit. This delay could potentially mean the difference between saving a life, or having the worst happen.

We are relying on the eyes and ears of the Paluma community to be watchful and vigilant in protecting this unit.

The best outcome is that the Defibrillator sits idle, mounted on the wall for many years to come and that we never have to use it!

Over to you Paluma community!

Thank you Wilfred for providing the photographs and information for this post.

Working Bee Progress…….

Last Saturday’s (8 January 2022) Working Bee at the Rainforest Walking Track has been hailed as a great success. Wilfred reports that nine volunteers attended on the day to carry out essential track upgrading works. The large mound of dirt near the Community Hall quickly disappeared as it was shovelled, barrowed and spread along various sections of the walking track needing repair and stabilisation. The new steps look great and Wilfred says they make the walk down the sloping terrain much easier and safer, especially for kids and short-legged people, as the steps are now of a more even height (we short people are glad to hear it!).

Wilfred says he was ‘blown away’ by the great response to the call-out for volunteers and he heartily thanks all those who attended and provided their free labour for a few hours. Another two working bees are planned to tackle the next stage of the walking track repair work. After that, the whole of the track should be in tip-top condition for both locals and visitors to enjoy. Les’s bar was raided for a well deserved drink after the Working Bee, courtesy of Wilfred’s shout.

Keep your eye out for notice of the next Working Bee, probably in about four weeks time. Everyone is welcome and the reward is all about COMMUNITY.

Text by Michele Bird & Wilfred Karnoll. Photos provided by Wilfred.

November Rain At Paluma

Barry Smith, our weekday rainfall recorder has kindly provided the Paluma rainfall figures for November 2021. The records show that rain fell on 24 days of the month and the total was just short of 240 mm. That’s a decent drop of rain in the build up to the pending wet season.

The community thanks Barry for his ongoing work in recording the daily rainfall at our new BOM recorder at the Village Green. Peter Cooke has recently stepped up as the regular weekend recorder and this is also greatly appreciated. We look forward to some big rainfall totals now that December has arrived!