The Clarence Valley remains barred from Queensland while neighbouring shires to its west and north are free to travel. As a result councillors have requested that Queensland relax border restrictions and allow residents from the Clarence Valley local government area to travel into the Sunshine state without having to quarantine.
It follows an announcement this week by the Queensland Government, to extend the border travel zone; the Clarence Valley is the only council area in the Northern NSW Local Health Network to be excluded. The last recorded Covid case in the Clarence Valley was on March 28.
Clarence Valley Mayor Cr Jim Simmons expressed his disappointment at the decision.
"The announcement is obviously upsetting for many residents; the Clarence Valley has strong human and economic ties with South East Queensland."
"With the M1 upgrade nearing completion, the journey to the border is now under two hours and people are keen to travel, to reunite with loved ones and get back to doing business," he said.
"Our community relies on the range of specialist health services in the Gold Coast and Brisbane."
"Queensland companies are engaged in multi-million dollar projects in the Clarence Valley and the border closure is causing delays, financial loses and inconvenience for people on both sides of the border."
"I understand and respect why the Queensland Government has been cautious relaxing border restrictions, but I would like to personally ask the Premier to extend the travel bubble to include the Clarence Valley Council area," Cr Simmons said.
The new travel bubble is due to take effect on 1 October.