There are landowners that support closing the gates to road reserves and there are residents who oppose such measures, so no matter what decision is made, someone will be unhappy.
Southern Downs Regional Councillors will be making a decision this week whether to support or oppose the “temporary” road closure of Murphys Crossing Road reserve. The road has been closed for more than three years.
Sources told the Town & Country Journal that the outcome of this week’s vote is far from certain.
The land on which Murphys Crossing sits is leased by Tartini Pty Ltd, which has operated since 1985, is an Australian company and has a variety of shareholders, all of whom live in Queensland.
Council originally did not oppose the closing of the road reserve in 2023. At the time, council records indicate that the applicant “proposed to use the road license for grazing purposes as an internal track to be used in conjunction with their adjoining land”.
Many in the community, including one councillor, claim the land is used for hunting and not grazing. There is a “Tartini Grand Slam” which has been advertised by SSAA. An article about the Tartini Grand Slam was written by Brad Allen, a Tartini Pty Ltd shareholder. The article discusses how the hunting competition is run “on our South East Queensland property” to encourage children to try “shooting and hunting” of “feral species on the acreage”.
One not-for-profit group, Adventure Access Closed Roads, has put effort into trying to get Murphys Crossing open again which was actively used by members of the public before 2023. They say that the blanket exclusion of recreational motorcyclists, bicycle riders, horse riders, tourists and other members of the travelling public from a major through road for grazing purposes represents a fundamental failure to apply the statutory balancing test required by the Department of Primary Industry’s own policy guideline and the statutory framework of the Land Act 1994.
Since the closure was meant to be “temporary” and reviewed regularly by DPI, Adventure Access says that the normal benchmarks have been exceeded in violation of state policy.
Adventure Access say that the road is not a minor track or dead-end road but a major through road providing connectivity between two significant roads (Nundubbermere Road and Bents Road), making it important to the regional road network.
No matter how councillors vote this week, the final decision, however, will be made by the Minister for the Department of Natural Resources.
