Residents of Tully Heads, Hull Heads and Lower Tully have been campaigning to have a direct connection between Silky Oak and the realigned Bruce Highway reintroduced into the project to provide decent access, especially in time of flooding, to the new Bruce Highway. Locals have written to both federal and state ministers responsible for main roads requesting that the connection road be constructed as part of the current project. The government response has been that if sufficient savings can be identified during the course of the project then consideration can be given to reintroducing the road into the project. A petition to be presented to the Queensland parliament early in 2008 is currently circulating through the community seeking support for the construction of the road as part of the current project.

History

In 2005, Mark Rowell, then the local member for Hinchinbrook, wrote on behalf of local residents to the government and Environment & Behaviour Consultants in Townsville complaining of the dangerous nature of the intersection of Tully Hull Road and the Bruce Highway at Silky Oak. The likelihood of a serious accident causing death or injury at the intersection was very high. The Main Roads Department responded with advice that the problems with the intersection would be fixed with the proposed Bruce Highway Upgrade. Residents took that advice at face value and waited for the upgrade of the highway to be announced.

Bruce Highway Upgrade Plans

In March 2006 Federal Minister for Local Government, Territories & Roads Jim Lloyd and Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister Paul Lucas announced the route chosen to upgrade the 15km section of the Bruce Highway south of Tully. Prime Minister John Howard announced he was prepared to release $80 million federal funding set aside to upgrade the Bruce Highway south of Tully, as he toured the cyclone-affected area.

In June 2006 Federal Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads, Jim Lloyd, and Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Paul Lucas, announced that tenders had been called for the project's detailed design and construction.

In October 2006 Australian Government Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads, Jim Lloyd, and Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Paul Lucas, announced that a BMD/Albem/Maunsell AECOM alliance had been awarded the $950,000 contract to carry out detailed design work.

Early in 2007 The Tully Heads/Hull Heads Progress Association contacted a senior DMR engineer on the project and was given a plan of the project superimposed on an aerial photograph. The plan clearly showed Lentini Road as part of the project. At about the same time Andrew Cripps, the new member for Hinchinbrook, was approached and asked the Main Roads Department about the inclusion of Lentini Road in the project.

At the end of March 2007, Ian Rose of the Main Roads Department advised that the Lentini Road connection would not form part of the project and further advised that extensive public consultation had been undertaken.

As a result, early in April 2007, Bruce Stockwell, a resident of Hull Heads, wrote letters to Andrew Cripps and Bob Katter seeking their help to resolve the situation.

Plans on Display

In April 2007 the Main Roads Department, in conjunction with the planning consultants staged a public display of the project plans in Tully. It became abundantly clear from this display that the Lentini Road connection had been removed from the project because of cost considerations.

Beginning of the Campaign

At this stage Mr Stockwell wrote jointly to ministers Lloyd and Lucas of the federal and state governments complaining that the connecting road had been dropped and requesting action to have it included in the project.

Federal Minister Lloyd’s response in June 2007 was interesting. He was surprised to learn from Mr Stockwell’s letter that the Lentini Road connection was no longer part of the proposed scope of works and asked the Department of Transport & Regional Services to pursue the matter. Lloyd advised "…the Queensland Government has an obligation to include Lentini Road in the current scope of works as reflected in our joint announcement…".

Lucas didn’t respond until late August. The response, provided by his office, stated "The project has been designed so that, should cost savings be identified during the project construction, the inclusion of a connection to the new highway would be considered as part of the current project." He went on to dismiss other criticisms of the project and insisted that extensive public consultation had taken place.

Since then the Bligh government has installed Warren Pitt, the member for Musgrave as Minister for Main Roads.

Public Meeting

On 11 September 2007 a public meeting was held at the Kincora Hotel In Tully Heads. Reg Conroy, Director of Major Projects with the Qld DMR attended that meeting and heard Andrew Cripps support the residents and call for the process of identification of savings in the project to be transparent and the criteria made public. The public was called on to write letters to the ministers.

Letter Writing Workshop

At the end of September a Letter Writing Workshop was held at the hotel and many people wrote personalised letters to both federal and state ministers.

In November 2007 a petition was circulated, and , particularly on election day, hundreds of signatures were collected in support of the campaign.

On 13 December Mr Stockwell wrote to minister Pitt again and to Ian Rose informing them that the petition would be submitted to the Queensland Parliament at the earliest possible convenience (February 2008) giving them forewarning of the petition and an opportunity for them to take action in advance of a parliamentary instruction on the matter.