Category: Range Road Information

A ‘must read’ comment on Range Road issues and TMR

This is a very informative comment posted on June 5th from one of our Paluma homeowners, Tony Bligh, which was a ‘comment’ on the post ‘2nd letter to the minister regarding range road permits’. It is very bad news indeed for our business owners in particular as well as ALL residents.

Folks the following is long because it encompasses a conversation of over an hour I had yesterday with a TMR engineer and one of the department’s communications people. They were endeavouring to explain TMR’s perspective and approach to me, and I spent my time pointing out their inconsistencies, illogicality and failings. It was polite but brutally frank. Jamie’s post brilliantly describes the failures in TMR’s thinking, so I need not go over that again.It will not surprise you to learn that TMR did not want to open the road, and had no intention of doing so. Apparently an edict from the Director-General compelled them to open it now. I was advised that that direction caused a hasty implementation and “limited consultation”. Self-evidently the implementation has been hasty and inept, so I accept that part of the advice. Long experience with TMR causes me to be very, very dubious about the claim that more time would have led to better (any!!) consultation…They appeared genuinely surprised when I told them that many Paluma home owners view our Paluma home as our “real” residence, and a Townsville house as just a place to sleep while we wait to get back up the mountain. It seems that they viewed all “weekenders” as little more than casual tourists, and could not understand the depth of outrage many of us felt at the inequitable permit arrangements.They made it clear that very large portions of the slopes above the road are unstable, and the experts believe that more slips will occur, potentially rendering the road entirely unfixable (my words, but they did not disagree).The good news – and I reiterate that this is entirely based on what they told me – is:
1. The traffic count of users of existing permits has been well within TMR’s (self-) adopted limits.
2. Consequentially, they anticipate issuing more permits “very soon”, but gave no detail about when, or how the recipients will be identified.
3. They have adopted a new process in an attempt to engage contractors to have to full rectification of the road carried out more quickly.The (very) bad news:
4. Permit arrangements are expected to remain in place until full rectification is completed. (They might allow some progressive relaxation as work is completed, but that discussion was unclear).
5. The heritage-listing of the road, coupled with the requirements of the Wet Tropics management Authority, greatly increases the cost of and time required for future works. It also (in TMR’s view) prevents TMR from improving the road and making it more resilient. (I believe that the Paluma community should discuss asap what we want to propose about at least the QLD Heritage listing).
6. TMR would not actually comment on the time required for a full re-opening, but they did not disagree with me when I said that, given the scale of the work and the impediments just described, it would be at least 12 months and probably longer.
7. They were very clear about expecting to close the road to all users during heavy rain periods, and on any other occasion they thought a slip was more likely. While they did not state the following explicitly, it seemed to me that they expect to close the road for (at least) some time during the next wet season, and during any earlier periods of serious rain. (Stock up on your provisions!).
8. The day-time travel restriction is the result of geo-technical advice that states that travel should occur only when drivers can see any slippage of the slopes above the road. That is, the restriction is not really focussing on the visibility of the actual road way. You can form your own views about any driver’s likelihood of driving the range road while also trying to look through the roof of their vehicle and around a blind corner to see the start of a landslide on a slope above the road. For myself, I reckon that if I ever see one, that will give me just enough time to kiss my butt goodbye…Good luck, Tony

PDCA email to Minister re Range Road Permits

Having received no response from the Director General and no meaningful response to our questions in the last Range Road Update, the PDCA has now written to the Minister asking for a response to our original questions and some additional ones that arose from information provided in the last update.

Wed 21/05/2025 9:17 PM

The Honourable Brent Mickelberg MP,
Minister for Transport and Main Roads

Dear Minister,

On Monday morning I wrote, on behalf of the Paluma and District Community Association, to the Director General of TMR  asking for clarification on a number of matters relating to the opening of the  Mt Spec Range Road (see attached). We asked that TMR provide answers to the Community through its regular update on several important questions regarding the opening of the road and the implementation of a restricted permit system to allow interim access to selected residents.  We are very disappointed that there has been no departmental response to our email and that the latest Range Road Update has failed to substantially address any of our questions, while at the same time providing new information which only serves to raise more concerns and questions.

Our initial questions as per the email of May 19 were:

  1. Will TMR share with the community the engineering reports and risk assessments that are being relied upon to deny public access?
  2. What are the specific criteria and the underlying logic for each criterion which will be applied when determining who will get a permit?
  3. Is it TMR’s intent to provide permits to high-frequency users of Paluma – including weekenders who are not property owners?
  4.  Is it TMR’s intent to regulate the number or identity of passengers in vehicles driven by permit-holders?
  5. How long will it take to issue permits?
  6. Will TMR undertake to implement the system by a specific date and to process all permit applications within a specific time?
  7. When does TMR anticipate allowing unrestricted use of the Mt Spec Road, and what are the criteria that will be applied to that decision?

The update repeatedly provided assurance that information on who would be provided a permit and how the permit system would be overseen would be provided “soon”.  This vague timeline does not provide any comfort to the residents of Paluma and district, who have been without all-weather and all-vehicle access to and from Townsville and Ingham for nearly 4 months. We believe TMR should permit access to the range road during daylight hours through to at least 7pm to all property owners and residents in the district.    

 TMR has now indicated that there will be daily vehicle limits, but does not indicate what that limit will be, how the limit will be calculated, and how vehicle limits serve to increase public safety (as opposed to reducing administrative costs).

TMR has only committed to giving “priority” to permanent and part-time residents for permits, implying that it may deny some residents permits if this would result in the daily limit being exceeded. We ask that TMR clearly define “residents” and confirm that all home owners as well as those renting homes as their primary domicile be given equal access to permits.

The Community is also very concerned that no information has been provided as to when and under what circumstances the range road will be opened to the public. Public access is absolutely essential for the viability of several businesses in the District who are already severely stressed by the closures to date.

We ask, as a matter of urgency, that your department:

  • fully answer all the questions above
  • provide additional clarity on how the permit system and vehicle limit will be administered
  • provide copies of the internal TMR Policy and Operational Standard which it states governs the permit system
  • commit to allowing permit access to the range road during the early evening to cater for shift workers and weekenders who travel to Paluma after work on Fridays

Yours sincerely,

 Jamie Oliver
President, Paluma and District Community Association

Cc:  The Honourable Bob Katter MP, The Honourable Nick Dametto MP, Cr. Paul Jacobs, Acting-Mayor Cr. Anne-Maree Greaney.

Att: email to TMR Director General, May 19, 2025