Published on Thursday, 6 June 2024 at 1:…

Published on Thursday, 6 June 2024 at 1:59:46 PM

PROPOSED ROAD CLOSURE - HOWATHARRA

The Shire of Chapman Valley has received an enquiry from the landowner of 2930 (Lot 118) North West Coastal Highway, Howatharra regarding the potential for acquisition of the unnamed and unconstructed road reserve that runs along the southern boundary of their property.

Lot 118 is a 9,570m² property on the eastern side of North West Coastal Highway that contains a residence and outbuildings. The property is located 500m north of the Coronation Beach Road turn off and 600m south of the Nanson-Howatharra Road intersection.

 

Lot 118 has a 20m wide and 155m long unnamed and unconstructed 3,140m² road reserve running along its southern boundary.

This matter was presented to the 16 May 2024 Shire of Chapman Valley Council meeting where it was resolved to initiate closure action of the road reserve running along the southern boundary of 2930 (Lot 118) North West Coastal Highway, Howatharra (to enable its subsequent amalgamation with Lot 118).

In its initial assessment the Shire considered that the closure of the unnamed road reserve and its amalgamation into the adjoining Lot 118 had merit based upon the following:

the road is considered surplus to Shire requirements. closing the road reserve would not inconvenience surrounding landowners, the wider public or any government agency or utility provider as it is not required for access or servicing purposes. the road reserve is not constructed on-ground and already presents as private property. the adjoining landowner to the south has been written to by the Shire and asked whether they would be interested in acquiring a half share of the road reserve (i.e. a 10m wide, 155m length of the road reserve being equally amalgamated into the neighbouring lots) and they have responded that they support the landowner of Lot 118 acquiring the road reserve in full. disposal of the road reserve would remove any Crown responsibility for the land relating to management or liability; the unnamed road reserve has an intersection point that is south of a highway bend that offers restricted visibility to the north and its construction would present a danger to road safety. the north-south highway has significant raised grade separation to the east-west unnamed road reserve meaning that were it to be constructed it would need unrealistically major earthworks to achieve connectivity. it is considered undesirable to introduce an additional road intersection onto a 110km/hour section of highway between the Coronation Beach Road and Nanson-Howatharra Road intersections and the removal of this unrequired road reserve would achieve a positive road safety outcome. Crown Reserve 8810 to the rear/east of the unnamed road reserve (being the former Geraldton-Northampton railway alignment) already has constructed road access in the form of a 1,028.67m frontage to the North West Coastal Highway to the south, and a 20.28m frontage to Railway Street to the north. the amalgamation of the 3,140m² unnamed road reserve into the 9,579m² Lot 118 would create a property of 1.2719ha which is more in keeping with the +1ha lot sizes for the ‘Rural Residential’ zone. it is considered that the subject land would be better managed under the private ownership of the adjoining landowner rather than under public ownership with particular regard for fire management, access, fencing and littering.

This proposed road closure is now being advertised as is required by the Land Administration Act 1997 and should you wish to comment on this proposal (support/object/indifferent) please ensure that your submission is lodged with the Shire before 4:00pm Friday 19 July 2024 on the submissions form that can be accessed at the below link.

At the conclusion of the advertising period, the proposal is required to be returned to a meeting of Council for its consideration of any received submissions and subsequently its forwarding of a final recommendation to the State Department for Planning, Lands & Heritage.

The Council meeting will be held on Thursday 15 August 2024 commencing at 9:00am and is open to the public and will be held at the Council Chambers, 3270 Chapman Valley Road, Nabawa should parties wish to attend.

Should further information be required please contact the Shire office on 9920 5011.

Full document with location images can be found here - /documents/917/proposed-road-closure-howatharra-submission-form

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