There has been some misunderstanding on social media this month in relation to the Tewantin Bypass, also known as the Beckman’s Road corridor, and we have outlined a brief history to clarify.

As you would be aware, addressing this historical issue was one of Sandy’s commitments to get remedied when elected, with Stage 1 of the Bypass, the Cooroy Noosa/Beckmans Rd intersection, successfully completed in 2022.

The original aim was to have the 3 stages completed by 2024, however unknown in 2020 was that TMR would hand over the project management to Noosa Council, meaning that there was not only one level of government involved, there were now two.

Over the last two years, Sandy has requested of both TMR and Council to advise us of any difficulties in advancing stage 2, the Noosa Eumundi roundabout end, in order to address the congestion. At no time from either has there been any indication that there would be delays, only that consideration was being given to tackle both stages 2 and 3 together.

With the expected funding for detailed design of either stage 2, or the combined stages 2 and 3 missing in the Budget, understandably Sandy has requested not only the reason for, and who is responsible, as well that regardless of why, funding immediately be provided to fast track the detailed design. This is imperative as without, there cannot be an allocation in the next budget for construction.

The difficulty, as we are seeing, is that when you have multiple governments involved, one to manage, and one to fund, agreement is required between the two otherwise it can lead to potential delays and we are currently awaiting the Ministers response as to why this has eventuated.

Now to the basic history –

The Noosa Demaining Agreement 2000 (NDA) is referenced often in relation to a Tewantin Bypass, however the reality of this document is that most of the agreement related to the demaining, funding and construction of Eenie Creek Road Stages 1 & 2, which was the Noosaville Bypass at the time, and Walter Hay Drive (aka the Southern Access Road) upgraded to connect to the Sunshine Motorway which ended at the Emu Mountain Drive roundabout.

There is just one clause in the document, clause 2.9, which refers to the Tewantin Bypass and states the following:

“The Integrated Regional Transport Plan includes the investigation of strategic road opportunities including a Tewantin Bypass. Given that these investigations establish a need for a Tewantin Bypass connecting the Cooroy-Noosa Road to the Eumundi-Noosa Road, then subject to the Act, Main Roads will plan, design and construct it.”

The Noosa Demaining Agreement 2000 can be read at www.sandybolton.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Demaining-agreement-between-DTMR-Noosa-Council.pdf

As you can see, the flaw in this clause is the provisio that if ‘these investigations establish a need’, and as Sandy found at the beginning of this journey, this included a predicted population increase in line with the Noosa Plan 2006 which has yet to be achieved.

Regardless, Sandy has been able to provide the rationale for commencement, with Stage 1 completed. This, even though there was no reference to funding or timelines as there were for those roads that the NDA primarily supports. This has led to confusion in what was ‘promised’ and resulting expectations over the years.

As Sandy has demonstrated, the bypass is much-needed, especially given that there are now two schools, and their resulting traffic, causing a rapid escalation of the traffic congestion from when this bypass was mentioned in the NDA. In addition, we now have the increase in populations to our south, requirements within the SEQ Draft, and an upcoming Brisbane Olympics and Paralympics that will increase access to our community.

Some of the publicly available political history in relation to this road:

2005 – a media release from the then Australian Labor Party (ALP) MP Cate Molloy that the Minister at the time had agreed in principle to fast track the project.

2006 – A Parliamentary Question was asked by Liberal National Party (LNP) MP Glen Elmes, asking for an update on the project which can be read at https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/tableoffice/questionsanswers/2006/1297-2006.pdf   In this, the Minister of the time, confirms the reference in the NDA, however also states that there is no obligation for them to fund a Tewantin Bypass or a specific timeframe to construct it, while also outlining how much funding has already been allocated to Noosa Council for the three major projects listed above that the NDA was primarily for.

2012 – 2015 saw the LNP Government in power, during which LNP MP Glen Elmes was also a Minister. No public references were found regarding Tewantin Bypass during this time, nor progress. 

2015 – in a Courier Mail media article LNP MP Glen Elmes, by then in opposition, again referenced the QON response from 2006 and later in the year raised another related Question in Parliament.

November 2017 – in the lead up to the State Election, the LNP promised to fund $19 million towards stages 1 and 2 of the bypass, if they were elected. 

2017 was the election Sandy became the Independent Member for Noosa, with an ALP Government in Queensland.

As Sandy has raised in Parliament, until we have a bipartisan system with bilateral/binding agreements such as done in Canada to deliver major infrastructure projects, we will continue to see projects become ‘victims’ of changing governments, their priorities and politics. However as seen from when we have previously had two party MPs whose respective parties held government during their terms, having this type of representation does not mean Noosa or anywhere in QLD or Australia will receive funding for much needed projects such as the Tewantin Bypass.

You can read one of Sandy’s speeches on this at documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/speeches/spk2023/Sandy_Bolton-Noosa-20231114-615769515435.pdf

Although funding was not allocated in this latest State Budget for the Tewantin Bypass, Sandy has reiterated that the Minister must fast-track and fund the requirements to get it back on track. Our full summary of the budget is available at www.sandybolton.com/budget-2024-25-summary

Further Information

For those who would like to directly advocate with the Queensland Minster for TMR please do so via transportandmainroads@ministerial.qld.gov.au. Please cc’ our office in via noosa@parliament.qld.gov.au and forward any response you receive to us.

For our previous Noosa 360 updates regarding the Tewantin Bypass, please visit www.sandybolton.com/?s=beckmans

Updates on many local matters are available on Noosa 360 at www.sandybolton.com/noosa360. To receive information straight to your email inbox, please subscribe to our monthly newsletter via www.sandybolton.com/newsletters.    This also ensures you receive any future Noosa related surveys or polls.