Landslide to take two years, $25m to fix

from Cooroy Rag 27 July 2022 edition

by Cooroy Rag

Your Noosa

The landslide at Black Mountain. Photo: Damien Gore

Continued from page 1

As a teacher, Adam started doing film production with his students, producing concept dance videos and clips.

“Film and TV production is a passion of mine, even from high school. I love filming, editing and producing.”

Something which he was thrilled to see on a professional large scale when he worked on the highly anticipated Elvis movie, directed by Baz Luhrmann.

“I worked on Elvis over six months on and off.

“There was one stint where I was on set all day for two weeks doing the international showroom concert scenes where I was a photographer.

“We also shot some other concert montages and I did the hayride scene as a band member.

“But I was part of the Russwood Park concert scene as a police officer and that’s where you will probably see me.

“It was fun and a great opportunity to meet Baz and get to experience his skills first-hand.

“For me, being a part of Elvis was always about getting to see the production and how direction happens and working with Baz who has such unique cinematography.

“That passion goes back to high school and to see it on such a high-end scale goes beyond being on screen. That was almost secondary.”

So while you might catch a glimpse of Adam in the Elvis movie, you can keep rubbernecking his website and follow this local hound dog at: www.adamrobins. com.au THE landslide on Black Mountain Road is so extensive it is expected to take two years and $25 to $30 million to repair.

An area near 359 Black Mountain Road experienced a significant landslip as a result of the extreme weather event experienced across the Noosa Shire in February.

At almost 150 m wide, Noosa Council said the landslide is the biggest experienced on the Sunshine Coast in 30 years and geotechnical assessments have revealed extensive damage with no easy fix.

“The experts tell us that much of the damage is below the surface and restoring the area is quite complex,” Noosa Council Director of Infrastructure Services Larry Sengstock said.

Even with tenders fasttracked, council has flagged a possible completion date of mid-2024 and final reconstruction costs won’t be known until detailed designs are completed.

“It’s difficult for residents to hear but this is a significant landslide and we need to be as transparent as possible so they understand the complexities involved,” Mr Sengstock said.

But news Black Mountain Road will remain closed for another two years is something many residents are struggling to come to terms with.

Resident Amy Langley said living in this situation has its impacts.

“Financially is the biggest one. Fuel, loss of business and grocery shops are now more extreme.

“Socially I barely see my friends as much nowadays. My children are also the same.

“The road isn’t one I chose to drive or be faced with driving and I find myself frazzled after the 120km of travel daily just for the school run. "Health impacts are creeping in, we are all feeling a little exhausted."

Mr Sengstock said council acknowledges the landslide has closed off the thoroughfare nature of the Black Mountain Road but they are “simply unable to provide any by-pass due to the instability of the land”.

“We are working with the community to minimise the disruption by doing significant works on the Anderson Road causeway and regular grading of the road,” Mr Sengstock said.

Mr Sengstock said council is liaising with the Queensland Reconstruction Authority, which administers disaster recovery funding on behalf of the state government, and they have been “very supportive”.

Mayor Clare Stewart said the February weather was unprecedented and council has been moving as quickly as possible to address issues.

“Safety must be paramount and resources are stretched across the entire south-east, so we are facing some real challenges in what can be done,” Cr Stewart said.

Nearly 100 roads and culverts require rebuilding to deal with 24 landslips in the Noosa Shire.

Council’s Flood Recovery 2022 section on its website provides an overview of the extent of work required to rebuild these.

Noosa Council has produced a video to help explain the complexities of the reconstruction at Black Mountain Road and a Black Mountain webpage has been developed to provide detailed information on the landslide.

Cr Stewart said council have dedicated staff to liaise with local residents.

“We are providing as much information as we can to keep them informed.”

Black Mountain residents have created a Facebook group to post updates and photos of the clearing and rebuilding of the road.

Need an accountant to empower your business and be a trusted advisor?

Do you have all your business accounting systems in place? If not, this is a great time to get them up and running seamlessly. We offer complete business packages, from set up to ongoing monthly bookkeeping and reporting, so you can focus on more important things!