Bureaucratic red tape is threatening to undermine not only the Longreach Regional Council’s $18m cluster fencing scheme but potentially the wider exclusion fencing program being undertaken around Queensland.
An enquiry from council staff prior to purchasing bulk cement powder for footings for end assemblies and strainers resulted in advice from the Queensland Building and Construction Commission that a licenced contractor is needed to undertake the work.
Of the landholders who have signed up to the program, 28 per cent have said they’ll be employing fencing contractors while the other 72pc are owner-operators putting up their own fences.
According to QBCC, the type of fence is judged to be a fixed structure, not temporary, and would therefore come under the definition of ‘building’ in the relevant Act.
There are a variety of exemptions available, including for work on a strand wire fence but only if they don’t have concrete footings, in which case a licensed contractor is required.
Longreach mayor, Ed Warren described it as an aberration and said he was confident there would be a solution.
He has brought the issue to the attention of the Premier’s department.
“I was surprised when I was first made aware of it,” he said.
“It’s got the potential to escalate further, to all fences being built if it’s not resolved quickly.”
Upon being advised of the decision, the Member for Gregory, Lachlan Millar, said he would be raising the issue with the deputy Premier this week, and with Agriculture Minister Bill Byrne.
“Everyone knows how to build a fence,” he said. “Government needs to stop the red tape, get out of the way and let us build.
“It took seven months for the government to release the last tranche of government money, and now we’re looking at another hold-up.
“Projects like these rely on momentum. This is just ridiculous.”
The Minister for Housing and Public Works, Mick de Brenni, said that whether or not a QBCC licence was required to do fencing work depended on a number of factors, including the size and type of fence being built and who is building it.
“I have asked my department and the QBCC to assist Longreach council with licencing questions to ensure the successful wild dog fencing program rolls out at pace and continues to help the revival of the sheep and wool industry in western Queensland.”
Part of the debate revolves around whether the participants are contractors or recipients of loan money.
Longreach Regional Council deputy CEO, Paul Hockings, said they had worked out the cost of building fences to be $8000 per kilometre, or $4500/km for materials and $3500 for labour, but people weren’t charging themselves for labour and so the amount being distributed per landholder was less than first estimated.
“They just wanted to avail themselves of funding for materials, which makes our money go further,” he said.
While some who had put in an expression of interest at the start of the scheme have since pulled out, due to property sales or concern about the season ahead and their finances, Mr Hockings said council would accept new applicants to the loan scheme.
The council has so far disbursed $4m, and Cr Warren said construction had not stopped at this stage.