The future closure of a road as part of an adjacent subdivision approval has riled residents who use it every day, although the council maintains it will be a safer outcome for all.
Creightons Road, Yandina, will be closed from its junction with Wappa Falls Road along the frontage of a 246-lot seven-stage subdivision accessed from Wappa Falls Road.
Traffic currently using Creightons Road will then be diverted through the subdivision once early stages are complete.
A Yandina and District Community Association meeting last week drew more than 60 people when the road closure was included on the agenda.
YADCA president Marie Reeve said residents of Creightons Road and other roads feeding off it were not consulted about the closure.
Ms Reeve said the traffic in and out of the rural residential properties along Creightons Road and beyond was not necessarily compatible with the road through the subdivision, which was shown on maps with at least four roundabouts plus raised crossings.
“It’s a rural residential area. You get septic pump-out trucks and water trucks, there’s people down there with businesses with heavy machinery, people with horse floats, and all that’s got to go in and out over raised crossings and through four roundabouts?” she said.
The development, often referred to locally as South-West Yandina, dates back to June 2020, when an application for a subdivision of 265 lots with park and drainage reserve was first lodged with Sunshine Coast Council.
It was rejected by the council but that was overturned by the Planning and Environment Court on appeal in 2022 before a negotiated approval was reached in 2023.
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Col Clarke, who has lived on Mount Combe Road, an extension of Creightons Road, for more than 40 years, said he was concerned the closure of Creightons Road would hinder an emergency evacuation.
“There’s a couple of hundred people that live up here and we back on to forestry where there hasn’t been a fire for 15 years,” he said.
“If they’re asked to evacuate they’re using the same road as everyone from the estate, and that’s the only way in for emergency vehicles, and everybody’s trying to get through four roundabouts and over crossings,” he said.
Mr Clarke said the closure of Creightons Road would benefit the developer, who would be able to plant it as a buffer rather than have to contain the buffer wholly within the development site.
Authorities “should have talked to us” to better understand the consequences of the road closure, he said.
A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson said the subdivision application containing the Creightons Road closure was code assessable and did not require public notification under the Planning Act.
“However, Sunshine Coast Council received community comments which were considered during the assessment process,” they said.
The spokesperson said a section of Creightons Road was “realigned” to address a known safety issue at the intersection with Wappa Falls Road as part of the subdivision application.
“This re-routes traffic through the development via a new collector road. It will result in increased sight distance and better separation from the adjacent Wappa Falls Road/Nambour North Connection Road intersection,” the spokesperson said.
“This outcome was supported by council and Department of Transport and Main Roads, who were also involved in the assessment.”
“The new collector road and intersections have been designed to accommodate a wide range of vehicles, including heavy vehicles and emergency service vehicles.”
A spokesperson for the State Assessment and Referral Agency, which vetted the subdivision application before it went to the council for approval, said SARA supported the proposed Creightons Road closure after viewing the applicant’s traffic impact assessment.
“The proposal was supported due to the very close proximity to the Nambour Connection Road and potential for ongoing safety and efficiency risks, and impacts on the state-controlled road with the expected increased traffic from the proposed development,” the spokesperson said.
State Member for Nicklin Marty Hunt, who attended the YADCA meeting, has promised to look into the road closure.
“I acknowledge the community’s concerns and understand the impact this closure may have on local residents,” he said.
“I am in the process of investigating the approval process and liaising with relevant authorities to explore any possible avenues for addressing these concerns.”
Mr Clarke said it was probably too late to stop the Creightons Road closure “but hopefully, we can change the process for the future”.
Sunshine Coast News attempted to contact the subdivision applicants for comment without success.
