Following on from the deliver of a petition to Council by residents of Mystery Bay requesting that Council reopen Schneider Drive to provide an alternative exit to Mystery Bay Road Councillors resolved last week to do nothing in the the way of removing the dirt embankment obstruction nor attend to any vegetation along the length of the possible "escape" path instead moving to allow Council staff to investigate the proposal and a further report be presented to Council on the outcomes of this investigation in early 2019.
Above: access to Schneider Drive is blocked by an earth embankment. The community, in their petition stated "Given the prediction of a “catastrophic” fire season ahead and our extreme vulnerability to bushfires, we are very concerned that Lamont Young Drive is currently our only way of exiting Mystery Bay. We believe our safety is jeopardised by the single exit. "We propose that: 1. Schneider Drive be opened as a one-way road, with left turn only into Mystery Bay Road and no right turn access from Mystery Bay Road. 2. That the 50kph speed zone be extended to the west of its existing boundary to incorporate the intersections of Schneider Drive and Sunnyside Road. The Council's General Managers response was for Council to make an informed decision on this request, staff would need to investigate cost and traffic impacts of this proposal. It is anticipated that a further report, outlining the details of this investigation, be presented back to Council in early 2019. Council engineer Tony Swallow advised the councillors that the "missing ink" of road was "not of a standard to be opened immediately" and that resources would have to be diverted from other projects. He did however advise that Counci are under instruction from the RFS in emergency and it would take little time to have machinery remove the mound to allow emergency access if the RFS requested such action. Following discussion it was also moved the Traffic Committee consider that the 50km speed zone be extended to the west of its existing boundary to incorporate the intersections of Schneider Drive and Sunnyside Road.
