Environment Minister to undertake inspection of Midge Point beach works

Published Friday, 21 October, 2016 at 05:52 AM

Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection and Minister for National Parks and the Great Barrier Reef
The Honourable Steven Miles

Environment Minister Dr Steven Miles will this Sunday (October 23) inspect beach works at Midge Point with Mackay Regional Council's Mayor and residents to develop an agreed “plan moving forward’.

Ahead of the Palaszczuk Government's Whitsunday Community Cabinet meeting, Sunday’s inspection follows Dr Miles’ intervention to ask the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection to request Mackay Regional Council hold-off removing geo-fabric laid by the Midge Point Progress Association in 2014.

“I have been monitoring the situation at Midge Point for some time, and have spoken with residents about their concerns on this issue,” Dr Miles said.

“As a result if those discussions, I asked EHP to request Council to hold off removing the geo-fabric, and invited the Mayor to join me at Midge Point to ensure Council has all the support it needs to protect the beach and see if there was any alternative.

“I will also be meeting with representatives from the Midge Point Progress Association.

“I want to stress this issue is the direct result of the failure of the Member for Whitsunday to address community concerns while the former LNP was in government.

“Local residents were so frustrated with the incompetence of Jason Costigan –who misled Midge Point locals by guaranteeing that paperwork for a permit would be sent by the LNP to the council –that they moved to install the geo-fabric.

“Rather than fail the people of Midge Point, like Jason Costigan did, the Palaszczuk Government is determined to fix this issue by working with council and the community.

“That’s why I stopped any action until I could get to Midge Point and have this meeting so we can have a plan moving forward,”Dr Miles said.

The geofabric material was installed along an 800m stretch of beach in 2014 by the Midge Point Progress Association (MPPA).

Dr Miles said the government understood concerns raised by the residents of Midge Point and “can appreciate the desire to protect their properties, particularly following the devastation that occurred in the area due to Tropical Cyclone Ului in 2010’.

Midge Point Progress Association Acting President Lance Greenwood said he was “delighted’’ that Dr Miles was visiting.

“The executive and members of the MPPA Inc, are very pleased that after 6 and a half years of battling to save the Midge Point foreshore, someone in authority is finally willing to pay attention to our plight and to give us an audience,” Mr Greenwood said.

“We realise that governments have changed during that time, however, it has been exasperating, to say the least, attempting to deal with a myriad of government departments from both sides of the political spectrum.

“So we are delighted to see that Minister Miles is taking his time personally to visit with us and to gauge first hand the situation at Midge Point,” he said.

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