February 21, 2013
There will soon be two ATM machines in Nanango’s Fitzroy Street after the South Burnett Regional Council this week refused Bendigo Bank permission to locate an ATM in Drayton Street.
Council heard the bank wanted to install an ATM.
Council officers had no objection to the idea but felt locating the ATM in Drayton Street would damage the facade of the historic 1940 bank premises Bendigo Bank plans to open in, as well as the streetscape.
They said it would be better for Bendigo to locate their ATM in Fitzroy Street in an extension that was added to the original building and which had less historic significance.
Cr Barry Green agreed with this idea.
“The old bank building at 92 Drayton Street is a local landmark,” he said.
“Putting the Bendigo ATM in Drayton Street would not only disfigure the streetscape, it would also disfigure the building. They’d have to virtually knock out one of the front windows to put it in.”
Cr Green said he thought neither the bank nor the public would be disadvantaged by having the ATM located around the corner.
“Heritage already have their own ATM in Fitzroy Street,” he said.
The approval was made possible by amendments to SCL legislation passed by the State Government in December which exempted piggeries, poultry and egg production developments on designated or potential Strategic Cropping Land from assessment.
Council approved the application by piggery operator Peter Bleys to expand his piggery at 330 Cridlands Road from 3500 to 6500 SPUs, subject to standard conditions and a requirement to seal the property’s access road from the existing Cridland Road bitumen to the property boundary.
Cr Cheryl Dalton explained the reason for insisting on the access road entrance being sealed was that trucks turning from unsealed roads onto sealed ones caused the bitumen to crack and break up.
“Our ratepayers wind up having to pay for that,” she said.
“But if the driveway is sealed, no harm is done.”
Owners Mark and Sharon Young last month applied to the SBRC to expand their current piggery operation from 1800 SPU to 8000 SPU, and the Council agreed subject to certain conditions.
The owners then reapplied to Council seeking to vary some of the conditions, in particular that they obtain a development permit for plumbing and drainage work on the property, and a second permit for operational works.
The Youngs justified their request for being relieved of the Development Permit for plumbing and drainage work by saying the plumbing and drainage of their piggery system wouldn’t be connected to the reticulated water supply and effluent disposal would be dealt with under a DAFF permit.
They justified their request for being relieved of the Development Permit for Operational Works by pointing out their property’s driveway had sustained no damage in the Australia Day floods, so they felt it would be counter-productive to alter it.
The Council partly agreed to some matters the Youngs raised and partly rejected some others.
The modified development conditions were passed unanimously.
The kindy wants to place the signs on the Bunya Highway at Tingoora and Lysdale Road in Wondai.
Council agreed to the kindy’s request for a 100 per cent fee waiver because the kindergarten was a not-for-profit community group.
However the SBRC will keep a $161 document lodgment fee.
It also turned down the kindy’s request for assistance to dig the post holes and erect the signs.
At Wednesday’s monthly meeting, the Council refused to extend the existing Development Approval by a further two years because the owner hadn’t undertaken any substantial work on the site in almost seven years.
Councillors were told the original approval had been granted under the former Nanango Shire Council’s now-superseded Planning Scheme in November 2006.
But in light of the changes that have occurred since, the owner’s tardiness in advancing the project and public submissions received in the past, Council officers recommended no further extension be granted.
Councillors agreed.
In May last year the Council refused to renew a development permit for a proposed shopping centre located opposite Nanango Showgrounds for similar reasons.
The walls will be built at River Road Park in Kingaroy, Pioneer Park in Nanango, and the Skate Park in Murgon.
Work is expected to commence later this month.
The now bi-annual event aims to promote the development of Unmanned Aaerial Vehicles (UAVs) through a tough competition which stretches the technical capabilities of contestants to the limit.
Last year a total of 23 Australian and international teams took part in the Challenge, a competition that (so far) no one has ever won.
Challenge organisers asked the Council to support the 2014 event by allowing them use of Kingaroy airport and its facilities, providing rubbish bins and operational assistance as necessary.
Since there was little direct cost to the Council in any of these things, Councillors agreed.
They will, however, consult with other airport users to see how interruptions to their activities can be minimised while the Challenge is underway.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Councillors heard the SBRC had budgeted to borrow $4 million in the current financial year; $1 million of this was for complementary works on flood damaged roads; $2.3 million for upgrades to the Kingaroy Water Supply’s rising main; and a further $700,000 for the Kingaroy Water Supply’s Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) Plant.
But after the 2012-13 Budget was first handed down in July, Council received a State Government subsidy of $880,000 for the DAF Plant, rendering that part of its borrowings unnecessary.
Even so, Council officers recommended that since the Council had already budgeted to borrow $4 million, it should do so and instead put the $700,000 earmarked for the DAF Plant into roadworks after the Australia Day floods.
Councillors agreed.
Councillors were told the insurance payout for the truck was $183,102 but a replacement unit, an Isuzu Giga CXY Truck, will cost $195,679 plus GST.
The difference will be paid for from Council’s existing Plant Replacement Budget.
Council approved Karinya’s application with the proviso the sign shouldn’t be higher than 3.6ms above ground level and must be located to provide adequate sight lines.
It will also need to be kept safe, clean and tidy at all times.
Karinya has two years to erect the sign before its approval lapses.
