General News
21 July, 2026
$1.2m for culvert on ‘road to nowhere’
MORE than $1.2 million will be spent by Tablelands Regional Council replacing a culvert on “a road to nowhere”.
The culvert on Soley Road at Upper Barron was damaged during Cyclone Jasper in December 2023, with council submitting a request for $791,817 in funds from the Queensland Restoration Authority (QRA) and subsequently approving a contract to Northern Civil Earthworks in December last year.
But on 1 July, the council held a meeting to approve an additional $424,185 after it was discovered that very poor subsurface conditions required an alternative foundation design, costing more money.
Despite the fact that the council had not received the green light from the QRA for the additional funds, the council gave its approval.
But questions have been asked by locals and a former councillor as to why so much money is being spent fixing a culvert on what council also recognises as an unformed road.
An image in the council report (pictured) shows the standard of Soley Road which runs between Merragallan Road and Upper Barron Road.
“The road is unformed and has no residents or structures associated with it except for the northern end where a formed gravel road services three houses,” former councillor David Clifton said.
“The rest of the road is unformed – in some cases with gates obstructing movement and with no ability for traffic movement except for the occasional farm truck or 4WD.
“It is genuinely a road to nowhere! The road to the site is locked but even the council agenda photos show that the road is not a road!”
Mr Clifton has also called into question the ability of officers involved with scoping the job, pointing to a similar situation back in 2022.
“As a former councillor, I was dismayed to learn that senior council staff have again asked the council to approve their incompetent estimating and planning of a major project,” he said.
“In 2022, council had to approve extra funds because the Brookes Road project in Millaa Millaa had grown from $750,000 to $1.2 million because of failures in estimating, planning and the absence of soil testing.
“That cost blowout came from ratepayers’ funds.
“Now in 2026, council staff have announced another major failure with the Soley Road culvert requiring an additional $425,000 on top of the original figure of $792,000.
“In the Soley Road case, the original funds came from disaster recovery monies from the QRA but the extra funds have not yet been secured other than by word of mouth.”
A council report advised that the QRA “has not provided any indications that the extra foundation works would not be funded”.
“Council has, therefore, been asked and have approved a contract extension of $425,000 without funds approval. In the worst case scenario, the TRC ratepayer could be left with another $425,000 engineering failure in four years.
“It doesn’t matter how you look at it and who pays, it is an expensive culvert to literally nowhere, servicing no residents, providing no viable linking in the road system and enabling only a few cows to be checked as needs be.”
The Express was contacted by two other local residents who were outraged at the funds to be spent on the culvert but wanted to remain anonymous.
