Brooloo folk want road to use

Geoff and Rachel Ritter with baby Taylor, Suzanne Harris-Johns, Leigh Geil and Wayne Sutton stand on George Rd.

Renee Pilcher

ANGRY Brooloo residents are fed up with Gympie Regional Council stalling over an impassable road that has left their homes inaccessible and forced them to lug their rubbish and groceries to the end of the street in a wheelbarrow.

Mayor Ron Dyne said yesterday Brooloo's George Rd would be upgraded, and cited wet weather and the high labour demand of the region's ongoing flood repairs as the reason for pushing back the $130,000 job.

He promised to "address the additional funding" needed for the project at the council's next finance meeting at the end of this month.

But frustrated George Rd home owner Suzanne Harris-Johns said it was "too little too late".

Ms Harris-Johns has been engaged in an ongoing battle with the council since a meeting with Cr Dyne and the council's planning supervisor 18 months ago, when she was told there were funds avail-able to upgrade George Rd last financial year.

"Then, of course, the big rains came last year and while there were funds (apparently) there wasn't enough manpower - understandably," she said.

When no work had eventuated by late last year, Ms Harris-Johns was again told by the council that work on the road was "being undertaken and the surveyors were coming out to start".

"They did come, but no work started," she said.

"I have now had a letter from council telling me that now there are no funds."

Meanwhile, Ms Harris-Johns and her closest neighbour, Leigh Geil, cannot use the road at all as they don't own 4WDs, and have to park their cars at a neighbour's at the end of the street.

"Our road is impassable when it rains," she said.

"We have had no garbage collection for about 18 months as the truck got bogged and they won't come up again - even in winter when it is dry - as the road is in such a pot-holed condition."

Neighbours Geoff and Rachel Ritter have a 4WD, but say even driving that on George Rd is a frightening experience.

"We can get through, but it slides all over the place," Rachel said.

"We have been badly bogged twice, and the RACQ has had to come and tow us out."

The council planned to construct George Rd up to its intersection with Mary St to a 4m-wide gravel standard with a sealed T-shaped turn-around area at the end, Cr Dyne said.

This section of the road would then be added to the council's asset register and future maintenance responsibility would become the council's. The gravel section of Mary St would remain an unmaintained road.

"We understand that all the rain that has again come (last week), and makes roads difficult, but we can't drive on ours at all - summer or winter," Ms Harris-Johns said.