MAREEBA Shire Council will benefit from the Queensland Government’s $60 million Infrastructure grants program released today.
Mayor Tom Gilmore welcomed the announcement of receiving almost $1.5 million for installation of a new water main on Byrnes Street, Mareeba from Rankin Street to Lloyd Street. “The funding received of $1.5 million confirmed today by The Honourable Mark Furner is a most welcome contribution to the cost of the upgrade to the Mareeba water trunk on Byrnes Street,” he said.
The grant is part of the Palaszczuk Government’s commitment to creating jobs and improving the liveability of communities in the Far North region with the approval of grant funding of more than $9 million for local infrastructure projects.
Mayor Tom Gilmore said projects of great scale such as this would simply not be possible without support from the State Government. “It is grants such as this that are being made by the Queensland Government that make these critical projects of pipeline maintenance and upgrades possible without making a serious burden on ratepayers,” he said.
Without a secure water supply to the Mareeba CBD, the community would be unsustainable particularly due to the potential impacts on the businesses and services in the CBD, to their employees and their customers.
Mayor Tom Gilmore said the upgrade would allow for future sustainable business growth to meet the increasing demand for goods and services not only in Mareeba, but the wider Mareeba Shire and rural and remote communities. “The pipeline in question has been in place for many years, and Council believes that it is imperative that it be replaced due to the fact that its usage is reaching the end of its life and may fracture which would cause serious property damage and disruption to businesses in Mareeba’s main street,” he said.
The infrastructure upgrade which has been labelled critical will cost $2.25M which will be funded by Mareeba Shire Council and the Queensland Government.