February 18, 2014
South Burnett Regional Council would support changes to Cherbourg’s alcohol management plan – which controls the type and amount of liquor which can be transported into the town – if a survey shows the majority of Cherbourg residents also want the bans scrapped.
Today’s South Burnett Regional Council meeting was told the State Government would only consider lifting the ban if it received a joint application from Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council and the South Burnett Regional Council.
SBRC Indigenous Affairs Portfolio chair Cr Kathy Duff said Cherbourg Council had recently received a grant to employ a person to draw up a new alcohol management plan for the town, as well as carry out a survey to gauge community attitudes towards lifting or retaining the current ban.
Several community leaders in Cherbourg, including Mayor Ken Bone, have said in the past they believe the alcohol ban is racist and should be rescinded.
Because the Cherbourg and Murgon communities are in such close proximity, and share many ties, any application to lift the ban also requires input from the SBRC.
Cr Duff said she and SBRC Economic Development Officer Phil Harding had been consulting with Murgon community leaders about their attitudes towards lifting the ban.
She believed matters raised in these discussions could be addressed.
Councillors unanimously delegated the power to approve or deny applications to keep extra dogs to CEO Ken McLoughlin today to remove them from future General Meeting agendas.
In January, six separate applications to keep extra dogs were on the Council minutes.
All were approved but the process took about 20 minutes.
Deputy Mayor Keith Campbell said he thought this was a sensible decision since all applications that were approved carried a provision that when one of the extra dogs died, it was not to be replaced.
This was a procedural matter and he felt Councillors’ time would be better spent tackling more important problems.
Fellow councillors agreed.
Cr Kathy Duff said Cherbourg Council was applying to Royalties For Regions for a $562,000 grant.
If the application is approved, $375,000 would be spent on a waste transfer station and the balance on recycling facilities.
Cr Duff said the project would be “a great way to partner with Cherbourg”.
The upgrade of Henry Street will start next month and is expected to be completed by the end of June.
Fitzroy Street will also receive an upgrade during March and April, while plans for Drayton Street’s upgrade would be finalised by June 30 and work would commence next financial year.
As well, several upgrades have been made to Nanango’s cemetery and the project will be finalised soon.
Stages 1 and 2 of Wondai’s Village Green project are also expected to be completed by June 30.
Roughly half an interactive children’s playground has already been installed on the Green, Cr Duff said.
Meanwhile, new toilets have been constructed in Blackbutt; Wondai’s cemetery has received an upgrade; and 2500 trees have been planted at Gordonbrook using funds from a Biodiversity Grant with another 1500 expected to be planted there in the near future.
In recent years the cinema had been one of the Festival’s two main venues but had to pull out of last year’s event when it was unexpectedly forced to close for flood repairs.
This year’s Festival will be held at the Nanango Cultural Centre and the Satellite Cinema from May 16-18.
Mayor Wayne Kratzmann said he couldn’t tip who this year’s celebrity guest would be because – at the moment – he simply didn’t know.
The successful applicants were:
- Claire Lucas – $2590 to run “Quilt In A Day” workshops
- Ashleigh Hatchmann – $471 to attend a new grade 4-5 teacher’s course
- Karol Lindemann – $2341 to run a “People, Birds and Animals” pastel portraits workshop
- Jumping Ant Arts Inc – $3900 to run a “Going Potty In The South Burnett” workshop
Three applications from the Nanango Art Society were rejected because they failed to meet RADF guidelines.
However the Committee noted that it was in favour of the Art Society’s concepts and encouraged the group to work with the RADF Liaison Officer to improve the quality of future applications.
A fourth application by Danuta Moorhead to attend a Powertex workshop to become a certified Powertex trainer was rejected because the Committee believed it would be of limited benefit to the arts community.
The plan is being developed by the Burnett Mary Regional Group with grant funding it had received to undertake the project.
The group identified Byee as one of three priority areas in the Burnett-Mary river catchment after farms there suffered extensive damage, scouring and soil losses in the 2013 floods (the other two are the Three Moon Creek area north of Eidsvold, and the Lower Burnett/Bundaberg South/Lower Kolan area).
A workshop to update Byee farmers on the progress of the Floodplain Management Plan would be held in the near future.
The system will provide a significant upgrade to the Homestead’s facilities and the cost would be paid out of the Committee’s funds.
Last August, the Homestead announced plans to establish 20 powered and unpowered caravan sites in the grounds to complement its existing bush camping and cabin sites.
Work on the onsite sewerage treatment system is expected to be completed by the end of March.
The program is being funded by the State Government’s Department of Justice and Attorney-General and is being delivered by RHealth.
Sport and Recreation Portfolio chair Cr Barry Green said the Sports Grounds were an “iconic” South Burnett playing field that had hosted many memorable sporting events over the decades.
But the site had fallen into disrepair in recent times because no one seemed quite sure who was responsible for what.
“It’s very sad to see it in its current state,” he said.
However a meeting would be held between himself, the Mayor and Wondai sports groups next month in an effort to hammer out a solution.
Boondooma Dam enjoyed an 11 per cent rise in visitors during the last 12 months, and BP Dam a 14 per cent rise.
The Council had built a new entertainment/gathering area with a pizza oven at Boondooma Dam, and a new amenities block opened at BP Dam in December.
The SBRC operates the tourist parks at both dams, the profits from which are put back into Council’s budget.
The Mayor also congratulated the Boondooma Dam Fish Stocking and Management Association for their recent Yellowbelly Fishing Competition which attracted the “second-largest number of nominations on record.”
At Tuesday’s General Meeting, councillors voted unanimously to rename the room.
SBRC Mayor Wayne Kratzmann reminded councillors of Mr Truss’ many years of service to Kingaroy and the South Burnett, and pointed out that during the Christmas break when Prime Minister Tony Abbott was on vacation, Mr Truss – as Acting Prime Minister – was running Australia from his family’s farm near Kumbia.
SBRC Mayor Wayne Kratzmann will now write to Mr Truss to inform him of the council’s intention and invite him to a civic reception for the room’s renaming at a time convenient to Mr Truss.
Mayor Wayne Kratzmann said that last year he’d helped at The Peanut Van’s Ekka stand and “had been floored” at the number of inquiries he received for information about visiting the region.
So this year Council would partner with other interested tourism operators to mount a much bigger display at the Ekka.
Last year the Council also partnered with several local operators when it attended Regional Flavours and received a very positive reaction there, too. It will repeat that effort this year.
