High Country Herald Confirms Plans for road widening of O'Brien Road 17/03/14

High Country Herald Newspaper has confirmed plans for future road widening on O'Brien Road to four lanes in the near future.  Based on a news report by High Country Herald journalist Miles Noller, in the 18th March 2014 Edition,  that the rumored road widening for O'Brien Road, Highfields to 4 lanes, (which would result in mass tree-clearing and land loss within the Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve), is something that is planned to occur within 10 years as advised by Mike Brady, General Manager Infrastructure Services Group, TRC.  This is a serious issue that will need to be addressed in the near future.

This article also hastily  featured the plan proposal for the Option A Path through the Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve, of which councillors were expected to vote for.  On the day that this article was published, eight Toowoomba Regional Councillors voted against the proposal printed in the paper, and voted instead for Option B (see more here).  As mentioned in the Herald article that Option A ensured that no trees would be removed within the reserve, Option B also ensured that no trees, undergrowth or wildlife habitat would be removed, making it a far better option for the *Endangered Ecosystem. The final result by Council does not see any tree removal as stated it would in a previous article in the High Country Herald (see article here).

(*Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve is a certified Ecosystem under the Queensland Vegetation Management Act 1999 and listed as an Area of Ecological Significance in a biodiversity area in the Toowoomba Regional Council Planning Scheme & Town Plan 2013)

High Country Herald Front Page 18 March 2014 "Trees will remain intact"

High Country Herald Article 18th March 2014 - printed the Plan A path proposal for the Charles and Motee Rogers Bushland Reserve, prior to the TRC Councillors Voting for Option B later that morning.  This article does confirm plans by TRC Infrastructure General Manager Mike Brady to widen O'Brien Road to 4 lanes within 10 years.