Slim Chance For Bridge Funding

June 26, 2014

“The weather in Canberra was chilly and so was our reception,” South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann told fellow councillors when he delivered his monthly Mayor’s Report at Council’s June meeting on Wednesday.

The Mayor was recounting his trip to attend the 2014 National General Assembly of Local Government, which was held in Canberra on June 15-18.

There doesn’t look to be much money available from the Federal Government for local councils at present.

During the visit Mayor Kratzmann arranged a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss to discuss the Federal Government’s new “Bridges To Recovery” program.

He said the program would allocate $300 million over the next five years to repair ageing bridges around the nation.

The first round of $100 million was expected to open for applications in August.

However because State Governments can compete for grants alongside councils and because even small rural bridge replacements can cost as much as $1 million, Mayor Kratzmann thought the South Burnett’s chance of seeing any windfall from “Bridges To Recovery” was slim.

Nonetheless, Council would be submitting an application in the upcoming round.

The Mayor welcomed the Federal Government’s commitment to put extra funding into its successful “Roads To Recovery” and “Blackspot” funding programs, as well as its decision to hold an extra “Roads To Recovery” grant round in 2015-16.

He said Council’s next “Blackspot” target was the intersection of Taylors Road and the Bunya Highway north of Kingaroy.

Several accidents have occurred there in recent years, the Mayor said.

And with growing residential development in the area, the need to address this problem was growing.

* * *

A proposal to split a 3.8ha lot at 198 Birt Road, Booie, into two smaller blocks – one of 2.1ha and the other of 1.7ha – has been agreed to by Council.

The two lots have frontages to Belair Drive, a rural residential sub-division 6km north of Kingaroy. One lot has a house, shed and stable on it and the other is currently vacant.

All lots in rural residential zones are usually required to be a minimum 2ha in size.

However, council officers believed the slightly smaller lot would not vary the area’s character in any significant way and recommended the application be approved subject to normal conditions.

Councillors agreed.

* * *

An application to convert a house at 217 Haly Street for use as a vet surgery was discussed at this month’s meeting.

Councillors heard that although the site was in a Residential B zone, several adjoining properties in the street had already been converted to commercial premises.

Council officers felt the application wouldn’t be out of keeping with the character of the street and recommended it be approved.

But a requirement for the applicant to build a concrete footpath in front of the property provoked discussion.

Cr Damien Tessmann said he had inspected the site and there was no existing concrete footpath, so if the applicant built one along his frontage it wouldn’t link up with any other concrete footpath and “wouldn’t look right”.

“Is this an ‘over-the-top’ burden on the applicant?” he asked.

Cr Kathy Duff said she agreed with Cr Tessmann, and suggested Council either ask for a contribution towards a future footpath along the street or if the applicant was forced to build a strip of footpath, Council finish the remaining sections to ensure there was a continuous, uniform footpath along that side of the road.

Cr Keith Campbell agreed that if the footpath was installed the area “would look like a bit of a patchwork” but he thought it would be inappropriate for Council to require footpaths for other businesses and not this one.

Cr Deb Palmer agreed, saying it was up to Council to get money for footpaths from developers.

Cr Barry Green said the option to get a contribution from the applicant towards footpath costs was a standard development condition and he saw no problem with councillors choosing that method if they wished.

Cr Tessmann replied that – either way – he thought Council was still being too hard on developers.

Infrastructure General Manager Russell Hood noted the property in question was about 300m long and the area between Youngman and William street already had several stretches of concrete footpath in place.

If the new footpath was built, there would be less than 50m left for Council to build to create a continuous concrete footpath on the southern side of the road.

Mayor Wayne Kratzmann said he was supporting the requirement for a concrete footpath based on precedent.

The application – with a compulsory footpath – was approved.

* * *

There have been no known cases of dengue fever in the South Burnett, Cr Kathy Duff told Wednesday’s meeting.

However Aedes aegypti mosquitoes (which carry dengue fever) have been detected on several properties in the Murgon and Wondai areas recently.

Council officers were now stepping up preventative measures to ensure the mosquito doesn’t gain a foothold in the region.

Cr Duff said residents could assist by inspecting their property and tipping out any water that may be lying in pots, vases, buckets, old tyres and tin cans, and ensuring water tank inlets, inspection holes and overflow pipes were covered by a tight mesh.

Cr Ros Heit said Council staff would be consulting with members of the Wondai Garden Club soon as well.

Some species of plants pooled water which made them ideal for mosquito breeding, and she hoped the Garden Club could play a lead role in alerting gardeners about the problem.

* * *

A trial of Cherbourg’s new recycling facility is progressing well, Cr Duff said.

The facility now has a processing speed of one tonne of recyclables every four hours.

The roll-out of new waste bins in Kingaroy and Nanango is also proceeding smoothly, with 10,500 bins already delivered to residences.

Some sporting clubs and community groups would appreciate donations of old bins if residents don’t want to keep them, she said.

* * *

The recent 1080 baiting program and temporary hire of four professional trappers had been very successful, with the trappers catching more than 50 wild dogs and 62 feral pigs.

Natural Resources Portfolio chair Cr Kathy Duff said the program was funded with a grant from the Burnett Mary Regional Group.

Although it is now winding down, she was hopeful landholders who took part would “chip in” to re-hire the trappers for future campaigns.

* * *

The Mayor’s Community Benefit Fund Assessment Committee has approved four grants totalling $10,086 in its second grants round.

The round had a focus on mental health-related projects which would deliver a meaningful outcome to the South Burnett community, and was open to organisations that directly address community welfare but don’t receive support from other recognised funding channels.

The successful applicants were:

• Boots ‘n’ Bulldust Inc – $3156 for an Accidental Counsellor program

• Graham House Community Centre – $2000 for Amanda Gore Revisited and Laughter – The Heart of Healing

• Kingaroy High School P&C Association – $2930 for Mental Health First Aid training

• Murgon Men’s Shed – $2000 for a work bench and lock-up cabinets

The Community Benefit Fund’s next grant will be the Annual Beneficiary Grant of $15,000 for South Burnett organisations that meet the funding criteria outlined in the Mayor’s Community Benefit Fund guidelines.

Applications for this round opened on June 10 and close on July 4. The successful project must be completed by December 31 and acquitted six weeks after completion.

* * *

“I’m not a person, I’m a page” Sports Portfolio chair Cr Barry Green informed fellow councillors at this month’s meeting.

The surprise admission came as Cr Green was delivering his monthly portfolio report, which included an update on a new trial program being run in conjunction with the Nanango Golf Club to see if regional golfing tourism numbers can be increased.

Cr Green told fellow councillors there are more than 130 golfing clubs in Brisbane which are not affiliated to any specific course.

The trial program is trying to target these clubs to persuade them to try the region’s golf courses and a Facebook page had been set up as part of the trial.

Cr Green confided he was still getting “up to speed” on Facebook, but now knew enough to note that Cr Damien Tessmann had yet to befriend him.

Cr Tessmann said he’d be very happy to become Cr Green’s friend, but at the moment the page seemed to be an event so he was unable to do so.

“I’m not a person, I’m a page, apparently…” Cr Green noted ruefully.

* * *

The South Burnett Regional Council has progressed several economic development initiatives recently, Mayor Wayne Kratzmann said on Wednesday.

The Economic Development Portfolio is currently involved with the following projects:

• Council will be erecting a communications tower at Durong soon to improve emergency communications in the area. It is now in discussions with telecommunications companies to see if they want to co-locate broadband and mobile communications equipment on the tower to remove notorious “communication blackspots” in the Durong and Boondooma areas.

• Council plans to install a mini golf course at the Yallakool Tourist Park to provide more entertainment options for visitors and another revenue source for the council-owned operation.

• The SBRC will be taking a stand at this year’s Regional Flavours exhibition at Southbank in July and the Brisbane Ekka in August to promote the region to tourists and potential new business operators. The Council also exhibited at the Sydney and Brisbane Caravan and Camping Shows in May and June.

• Heritage Community Bank in Nanango has come aboard as the major sponsor of the inaugural South Burnett Business Excellence Awards, which will be held on October 15. Nominations for these awards will begin to be accepted in July, and a “Mentoring For Growth” program has been included in the Awards as a way to support nominees and help them grow their existing businesses.

• A Tourism Development Plan which aims to increase both visitor numbers and the length of their stay in the region has been created in co-operation with Southern Queensland Country and the South Burnett Tourism Association.

• South Burnett Directions will launch their new website and newsletter in July, and the first draft of the region’s Economic Development Strategy will be available for public comment, along with a telecommunications survey so the community can register their experiences of mobile and broadband coverage in the region.

• The Brisbane Bus Lines bus service to the region has been secured after several months of negotiations with Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney and Translink.

* * *

An unformed road that informally connects Niagara Road and Nords Road at Boyneside will be closed.

The Department Of Natural Resources and Mines applied to Council to permanently close the road; councillors had no objection to the proposal.

Cr Ros Heit said she’d inspected the area and found it was steep terrain where “we’d never want to build a road anyway”.

* * *

A road at Brigooda will be renamed Alexander and Lawson Road to honour two pioneering families in the area.

An old road sign, “Broad Creek Road”, will be removed.

The renaming is in response to a request from the Boondooma Homestead Management Advisory Committee.

The road runs from the Proston-Boondooma Road to Lawsons Broad Creek Road.

Council will spend $200 to remove the old nameplate and erect a new one.

* * *

The South Burnett Regional Council will broaden the focus of its existing Streetscape Fund so that money placed into the fund can be spent on capital works and/or debt reduction.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Councillors heard the Streetscape Fund was set up in September 2012 specifically for the revitalisation and future development of the South Burnett’s towns and villages.

The fund was to receive money from the sale of surplus Council land between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2015.

But during negotiations on the 2014-15 Budget it was identified that Council has a significant land portfolio which could be sold.

The upcoming Budget has now been framed on utilising the proceeds from this year’s land sales to fund capital works projects.

Forward budgets have also been framed the same way.

Because of this the original resolution needed to be altered to reflect the fund’s new aims.

Cr Keith Campbell, who moved the motion, said the change would give the Council more flexibility in how it used the proceeds of land sales.

He said a new policy would be developed around the use of the fund and brought to Council later for ratification.

Cr Damien Tessmann asked if the fund could also be used for things that were not connected to capital works or debt reduction.

General Manager Finance Gary Wall said the fund could only be used for its stated aims, not for Council’s operational expenses.

* * *

Council will borrow $26.6 million from Queensland Treasury to fund capital works projects in the region.

This is $8 million less than it originally planned to borrow in 2013-14 thanks to a $10 million grant from the State Government towards the replacement of the Kingaroy Waste Water Treatment Plant.

The money will be spent as follows:

• Bridge Replacements – $5,210,000
• Kingaroy Water Treatment Plant Upgrade – $4,000,000
• Kingaroy Water Rising Main – $800,000
• Recreation Areas: New Cabins – $650,000
• Kingaroy Waste Water Treatment Plant – $26,000,000 (including a $10 million State Government grant)

The Council voted to borrow an extra $1.94 million this month to accelerate its bridge replacement program and build new cabins at the Yallakool Tourist Park to tap unmet demand for lakeside accommodation.

Queensland Treasury officials had approved the borrowings but advised Council to act quickly to lock in current low-interest rates.

The proposal was moved by Cr Keith Campbell, second by Cr Damien Tessmann, and carried unanimously.

* * *

Renovation work on the South Burnett Private Hospital’s wards and roofing, including rewiring the A Wing and B Wing, should be completed by June 30, Properties portfolio chair Cr Deb Palmer said.

However, re-roofing and rewiring the hospital’s administration area and consulting rooms won’t commence until September because the surgery is completely booked out for July and August.

Maintenance and repair work on the South Burnett Aquatic Centre in Nanango will take an additional two weeks.

The work includes removal of insulation from the roof; roof repainting, repairs to the Centre’s expansion joints and shade sail post footings, and the erection of a new shade sail.

The Centre is expected to reopen for public use on Monday, June 30.

* * *

Kingaroy Private Hospital Ltd will be renamed the South Burnett Community Hospital Foundation Ltd to better reflect the hospital’s regional presence and gift status, as outlined in its constitution.

The move for a name change for the Council entity, which owns the South Burnett Private Hospital, was passed unanimously at the June meeting.

* * *

Council has awarded the tender for the relining of sewer mains and household junctions in Nanango, Kingaroy, Wondai and Murgon to Kembla Watertech Pty Ltd.

The successful tenderer bid $1,787,820 (exc GST) and Council will pay $814,825 in 2013-14 and $972,995 in 2014-15 for the project.

[UPDATED]

  Council