12:00a.m. 16th April 2008

| By Jane Gardner

Sunshine Coast Regional Council will seek compensation from the state government for the cost of repairing roads that are falling apart from the construction of the northern interconnector pipeline.

The motion was passed unanimously yesterday at the first council committee meeting.

Council will seek part of the $334,778 it will spend to urgently fix Tunnel Ridge Road at Mooloolah, which is at risk of collapsing because of increased heavy traffic on the road.

Rusted culvert pipes under the road, near the intersection of Dularcha Drive, have been crushed.

Funds from the Bulcock Street drainage and road works project have been reallocated for the repairs.

Division 1 councillor Anna Grosskreutz placed the blame for the deteriorating road squarely on heavy trucks used in the construction of the interconnector pipeline.

She said the new regional council would not stand for the destruction of infrastructure to feed another region’s needs.

“It’s so dangerous, we can’t even allow council workers to crawl in to the pipes to stabilise them,” Ms Grosskreutz said.

“We need to talk to the state government about compensation because a lot of our roads are becoming damaged with the movement of these heavy vehicles.

“We know they took our water, but they can’t take council’s infrastructure with them.”

Mayor Bob Abbot wholeheartedly supported the move.

“Whether we can get (compensation) or not I don’t know – but they have put B-doubles on that road where they never would before,” he said.

“The bottom line is these roads were never built for that purpose. The state government does not allow B-doubles on any road, but in this case they did because of the so-called emergency situation.

“I don’t think the Sunshine Coast community should wear the cost of that.”

Acting CEO John Knaggs will discuss compensation with the Northern Interconnector Pipeline Alliance.