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Alarm bells are ringing for five key Lockyer Valley towns as details of the Inland Rail project come to light.
A good night’s sleep will be hard to come by for 4500 homes between Grantham, Helidon, Laidley, Forest Hill and Gatton, a study has found.
A draft environmental impact statement has revealed noise from the double-stacked freight trains will impact 175 houses.
But that number is expected to soar as the population continues to boom, with the World Health Organisation predicting 4500 homes by 2040.
Lockyer mayor Tanya Milligan said the impact of the Helidon to Calvert line would be “devastating for many in the region”.
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Subscriber only Just days before quarantine workers are due to be released into the fields, the agricultural department says it consulted with local regional council, agencies and organisations prior to overseas workers starting their coronavirus quarantining at Grantham. When 160 overseas workers, predominantly from the Solomon Islands, arrived in Grantham on June 7, the Grantham community was confused and frustrated with the lack of consultation. But the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries says it conducted consultation with the relevant parties prior to the labour hire workers arriving at the Grantham Farmworkers Lodge. It s important to note the site poses no risk to the community, however immediate neighbours of a quarantine site are advised that incoming workers will be quarantining there, a department spokesperson said.
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A request from Lockyer Valley mayor Tanya Milligan to inform and consult residents before the arrival and quarantine of 160 international workers in Grantham was ignored by the Queensland governmentâs Department of Agriculture, she has claimed.
Cr Milligan has slammed the non-existent community consultation as âdisappointingâ and said councilâs request to the agriculture department for the Grantham community to be informed ahead of the seasonal workersâ arrival on Friday, May 7.
Cr Milligan said the Lockyer Valley Regional Council was contacted via the local disaster management group to establish their opinion on the workers from Vanuatu and Pacific Islands quarantining at a hub in Grantham.
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Painted silos in the quaint town of Forest Hill would deliver an economic boom and increase in tourist numbers, according to a Thallon resident.
The statement comes from Thallon Progress Association secretary Leanne Brosnan, who was instrumental in having the small southwest Queensland town’s silos painted in 2017.
Not only does Ms Brosnan claim the silo art had a positive financial impact on the town t, but it’s also saved the small Balonne Shire town from dying.
In the years since the enormous artworks were revealed, there was no harvest, no rain, and 2019 was the driest year on record.