Mount Isa City Council has agreed to establish an advisory committee for the proposed Miners Memorial in the city.
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Former residents John Moran and Steve Trevor made the proposal last year for a permanent memorial for all those who lost their lives in industrial accidents at Mount Isa Mines since it was established in 2024.
"How fitting it would be if this was to occur during the City`s Centenary of its existence in the year 2023," Mr Moran said last year.
Now Council has taken the first tentative step to making it a reality by voting to establish an advisory committee at its May meeting and also to begin a membership nomination and application process.
The report presented to council said support would be provided through executive services and there were no budget implications in the current financial year which finished at the end of this month.
It cited correspondence from Mr Moran in August 2020 to consider the proposal and a council decision that same month to prepare a report.
The report prepared terms of reference for the memorial which stated its purpose as planning and development, strategic program reviews, community participation and support to specific working groups as established by council.
It did not contain any specific proposals for the memorial though Mr Moran has suggested turning the top of the hill which contains the Frank Aston Museum to contain "a light on the hill to illuminate every night and become a tourism attraction."
He also envisaged a Memorial consisting of an architect-designed semi-circular wall containing the names of the deceased workers on plaques.
At the May meeting Cr Kim Coghlan said they needed to push ahead with the proposal urgently.
Deputy Mayor Phil Barwick said that as a mining town, Mount Isa needed to approach the issue with sensitivity.
"The overarching statement needs to be respectful otherwise it could have negative consequences for the city," Cr Barwick said.
Mayor Danielle Slade said the new committee would be good news for Mr Moran and Mr Trevor.
Mr Moran first raised the possibility of a memorial wall in a letter to the North West Star in 1998 and reiterated his call in January 2020 after Moranbah launched its miners memorial.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
