General News
5 October, 2020
Byrnes Street beautification complete as capital works continue
THE main street of Mareeba has been completed with the redevelopment and beautification under the Mareeba Shire Council’s Capital Works Program.
THE main street of Mareeba has been completed with the redevelopment and beautification under the Mareeba Shire Council’s Capital Works Program.
The beautification project originally began under previous Mayor Tom Gilmore’s council and was subsequently handed over to Mayor Angela Toppin after the local government elections in March.
The project sought to make Byrnes Street in Mareeba more appealing to visitors and travellers as well as making much needed upgrades to the water mains and asphalt.
Cr Toppin was pleased with how the project turned out and has already set her sights on some other capital works projects.
“We’re very pleased with both sides of the street now matching and we wanted to beautify both sides that was part of the master plan,” she said.
“Initially there were some concerns about not being able to get parks but now the feedback is superb and people are really pleased that there is a bit of pride in the main streetscape.
“We’re very proud of it as we saw that as a very important project in terms of attracting visitors to our shire and we will continue to beautify and continue to seek grants to do so.”
The centre part of the main street is also on the books to undergo redevelopment and council is currently in talks with The Department of Main Roads to find the best time to undergo those developments.
MSC actively pursues government grants for these projects to minimise the impact of rate-payers, the beautification project was funded through the Queensland Government’s Works for Queensland Program.
“There is a good reason why we are doing projects one after the other, it is because we need to sustain employment in COVID-19 times,” Cr Toppin said.
“Not only for our own staff but also for the contractors and sub-contractors.
“We want to roll and keep these projects going.”
Up next on council’s agenda is the upgrade to Railway Avenue followed by other developments to roads and Chillagoe’s new water supply.
