Unnamed Road Causes Emergency Service Confusion in Rural Queensland

When Chris Stehbens spied an ambulance driving up and down his road with lights and sirens on during a Triple Zero (000) emergency, he was not surprised they could not find the right address.

It was because the unnamed road, which serves about 10 properties, does not appear on any official map.

"They were obviously lost," Mr Stehbens said.

The 68-year-old knew one of his neighbours was gravely ill at the end of the 1 kilometre bitumen stretch, so he rushed out to the road to point the paramedics in the right direction.

However, the address confusion did not end there as paramedics then had to call for urgent assistance from the Queensland Fire Department (QFD) to extricate the man from his high-block house.

"They couldn't find the address either," Mr Stehbens said about the QFD response.

"So I had to assist both of them to find out where they had to go."

Mr Stehbens said the road, just west of Yeppoon in central Queensland, was technically an easement in a subdivision, so all 10 properties fell under the same address.

A Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) spokesperson confirmed the late December incident.

They said emergency services used a mapping service that relied on information sourced from authorities such as local councils.

Mr Stehbens said he believed his local government, the Livingstone Shire Council, should now take over responsibility for the road, which is owned and maintained by property owners.

Mr Stehbens said generally an easement was an access way through one property to another.

"But in this instance, we've got about 10 different addresses on this one easement. It's totally unacceptable," he said.

Mr Stehbens said he paid about $5,000 a year in rates but did not have access to town water, sewerage or rubbish collection.

"It's sweet little deal for council with about 10 properties paying rates and they don't even maintain a road for us."

Confusion leads to 'life and death' situations

Mr Stehbens has raised the issue with Livingstone Shire Councillor Glenda Mather, who said obscure rural addresses could lead to a "life and death situation".

She said she now intended to call for a council investigation into the extent of no-name easement roads across the shire.

She suspects it is a hidden problem affecting many properties, not just in Livingstone, but in regions across rural Australia.

Cr Mather said she supported council taking control of the Limestone Creek Road easement but added it would need to be assessed to ensure it was up to standard.

She said bringing it up to scratch could be expensive and residents could have to wear the cost.

Cr Mather supported measures to make it easier for properties to be identified by emergency services.

"There's a lot of work to be done in that area," she said.

The QAS said the free national Emergency+ mobile app, developed by Australian emergency services, allowed users to accurately communicate their location through smart phone GPS functionality.

Residents could also provide location details to QAS to supplement local council data by completing an online form.

Livingstone Mayor Adam Belot said at this stage there was no confirmed estimate of how many properties might be affected.

"Council will consider any formal applications should they be submitted."