General News
12 June, 2025
Edge Estate link road now on hold
RESIDENTS opposed to a connecting road through The Edge estate have had a complicated reprieve following Mareeba Shire Council responses to two applications from developers at its recent meeting.
Both applications referred to an area between their housing developments, which was like a “no man’s land”, with neither developer wanting to carry out link road construction under current development conditions.
However, council was standing firm on its requirement that a road between the estates was good town planning practice as a matter of community safety in case of emergency, a natural disaster or a traffic accident.
It was also in keeping with local planning which had nominated a road connection between these two developments.
At its recent council meeting, NQ Farming Pty Ltd applied to renegotiate a condition of its development approval, asking council to roll back a requirement that it develop a connection road towards the Edge Estate.
Council heard that unless the second developer, Sibi Girgenti Holdings Pty Ltd, did its part of the development first (Stage 2 of The Edge estate), there was no way NQ farming could achieve the condition, as it would have to construct the road on land that did not belong to it.
Council agreed to the change that would bring the road corridor construction to the boundary of the NQ Farming estate development only.
In the meantime, Sibi Girgenti argued in its application to council that the connection road be cancelled completely, and if not, that the company be compensated by council for the use of the section of land between the estates, or agree to a land swap.
Back in February, Sibi Girgenti had asked that its Stage 2 development of The Edge change from an 80-lot to an 86-lot estate, following acknowledgment that a State Government plan to build a Kennedy Highway by-pass on the land in question was not going ahead.
Council approved the move, with a condition that Sibi Girgenti provide road reserve connection to the neighbouring northern (NQ Farming) estate.
In its latest application to council on 21 May, the company argued that the connection road was not wanted, that existing residents purchased at “The Edge” because it was a “one way in and one way out” estate; that a residents’ petition had been lodged with council; and that neither developer wanted to connect the estates.
The company also argued that it had fought hard with the Department of Transport and Main Roads (DTMR) for 15 years to hold on to the land that was going to be resumed for a future bypass, and had incurred considerable expenses over this time. It pointed out that if noting if the bypass had gone ahead, a link road was not possible.
It submitted also that should DTMR not have requested the land in 2007, “the plan in our DA submission would have already been approved, if not built already”.
A final argument was that other larger developments in Mareeba that did not have a link road.
Council refused the application to remove the road connection condition, and the compensation request. The land swap was not considered as it had not been included in the application.
In discussing the future of the road link, a council officer said it would depend on whether Sibi Girgenti did develop further and provide a road corridor connection.
“Then council will have to determine whether or not to fund the 40 metres of remaining road or leave it as a pedestrian thoroughfare,” he said.
“The timing of it would be under council control, which alleviates some of the concerns the Edge residents have raised with us previously about (construction) traffic coming through.
“Council has control over when that last bit of road is constructed.”
