Almost 50 years after he retired from the Mount Burrell area to Kingscliff, local pioneer Tom Grant has been honoured.
He was a key figure in the agricultural and community development of the Mount Burrell area south west of Murwillumbah, before spending his final years on the Tweed Coast.
But late last week his name at least returned to the Mt Burrell area with the opening of the new $1.2 million Tom Grant Bridge over Snake Creek on Kyogle Road.
Tweed mayor, Councillor Longland, who performed the official opening, told those gathered that Tom Grant, who served on the Tweed Shire Council from 1945 to 46, was a key figure in the agricultural and community development of the Mount Burrell area when it was dominated by dairy farms.
“As a Uki resident myself, I’m aware of the history of the South Arm, and can only imagine how tough life was for pioneering families like the Grants,” Cr Longland said.
“Although times were often hard, and the farmers and their families worked even harder, there was still plenty of time for an active and fulfilling community life.
“From what I understand, Tom Grant was at the centre of community and civic life in the Mount Burrell area from the time he arrived in 1925 to when he retired to Kingscliff in1963,” he said.
The event was attended by three of Tom Grant’s eight children – Dot Lange of Bray Park, Bernard Grant of Tweed Heads and Jack Grant of Murwillumbah. His one other surviving child Alice lives at Emu Park in Queensland and was unable to attend the event.
The bridge itself is a single 20-metre span concrete structure which was built on the site of an earlier bridge which had washed away. This avoided the costs and inconvenience to motorists of a temporary traffic bypass.
This is the first time this type of bridge design has been used in the Tweed, as it is a combination of the Queensland Main Roads and the Roads and Maritime Services (formerly Roads and Traffic Authority) standard bridges. This resulted in a saving of approximately $50,000, with further modifications saving an additional $50,000.
“Apart from cost and engineering considerations, a lot of thought and planning has gone into this bridge in regards to the environment, and an additional $40,000 was spent on environmental safeguards,” Councillor Longland said.
“A single span was used to save a pile being driven into the centre of the creek, which would have obviously had detrimental environmental effects.
“An ecological assessment found a number of threatened plant and animal species, including the Giant Barred Frog, the Fine-Leafed Tuckeroo, Hairy Joint Grass, and the Little Duroby. A great deal of care was taken to ensure there was no damage to these communities in the construction of this bridge.
“Another species which was expected to be present, the Large-Footed Myotis, was not found at the last bridge, as it was sub-optimal habitat for this species.
“The deck arrangement of the bridge is now perfect habitat for the threatened Large-Footed Myotis, so bat boxes have been installed and I’m pleased to say that these boxes are now home to a small colony,” he said.
Revegetation work is about to commence, and Council has committed $30,000 over the next five years to link in with the riparian vegetation work that the Catchment Management Authority is undertaking.
