Airlie Beach - Proposed road access changes

Whitsunday Regional Council sought public comment on the draft Plan for changes to the proposed road reserve on Lot 187 on SP219978 - near Coconut Grove in Airlie Beach.

Community consultation was open for 1 month from Wednesday 1 April 2020 to Friday 1 May 2020.

The proposed changes and public submissions are currently sitting with the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (DNRME) for review.

The proposed changes are for part of the land at Lot 187 SP219978 to be converted from reserve (for recreational purposes) to road reserve (areas A, B & C of the below Plan). The proposed road reserve will provide road access off the existing roundabout at Canal Street, Airlie Esplanade and Coconut Grove and ensure safe traffic management to the proposed development of Canal Street (Lot105 SP232115 and Lot106 SP172255). The Plan has been developed in accordance with the Reconfiguration of a Lot approval 20191165 (http://eplanning.whitsundayrc.qld.gov.au/Common/Common/terms.aspx).

It has come to Council’s attention that the plan currently being displayed, being ‘Rev B’, is not the correct approved map associated with ROL approval 20191165. The correct map is ‘Rev D’. The minor discrepancy relates to the size of Lot 2, which should be 800 m2 but is shown from an earlier version of the map as 770 m2. Council considers the minor discrepancy to have no effect on the current Community Consultation Application to open road from recreation reserve as it has not altered any part of this application. Council acknowledges this error and apologises for any inconvenience this may have caused when reviewing the information.

The parts are highlighted in pink on the above proposal plan (A B & C) and are all needed to form road reserves, as described below and in reference to the application 20191165:

A.

This part of Lot 187 is required to accommodate the realignment of Canal Street to form a fourth leg to the existing Coconut Grove/Airlie Esplanade roundabout.

This is necessary as the existing intersection of Canal Street and Coconut Grove is offset to the south of the roundabout and is close to an existing indented bus stop bay. The operation of Canal Street under this existing, offset arrangement would not result in a safe and functional intersection configuration from a traffic engineering point of view, and its proximity to the bus stop would interfere with the latter’s safe operation.

To overcome these traffic engineering issues, it is proposed to realign Canal Street, and to reconfigure the existing roundabout, to achieve a safe, four-way roundabout configuration, and to achieve a safe separation distance to the indented bus stop. This solution will require the conversion of Part A of Lot 187 from recreation reserve to road reserve.

B.

The cul-de-sac at the intersection of The Beacons Road, Coconut Grove and Ocean Grove also needs redesigning to enable safe and efficient private and service vehicle access. However, this cul-de-sac is poorly configured as it stands, with no turning facility, inconsistent widths and non-compliant horizontal geometry. As such, this cul-de-sac needs to be reconfigured as shown on the subdivision plan, to comply with Council’s development manual and good engineering practice. Again, this solution will require the conversion of Part B of Lot 187 to road reserve.

C.

This small part of Lot 187 will need to be converted in its entirety to road reserve, as its inclusion in the proposed internal road is required to ensure that the roundabout intersection at The Beacons Road, Coconut Grove and Ocean Grove will not be offset and that the new road will achieve the road reserve width required by Council’s development manual and good engineering practice.