July 28, 2014
Federal Government funding cutbacks to the National Film and Sound Archives (NSFA) mean the nationally touring Big Screen Film Festival is likely to be axed when it concludes its current season in November this year.
But the popular event looks set to continue in the South Burnett in 2015 regardless.
Mayor Wayne Kratzmann told fellow councillors at this months’s general meeting he’d recently attended a public presentation by the NFSA and had been told they thought the South Burnett’s Big Screen Film Festival was “one of the best” in Australia.
The festival has been held annually in Nanango and Kingaroy every May since 2007, and is jointly sponsored by the South Burnett Regional Council and Nanango’s Heritage Community Bank.
Mayor Kratzmann said Big Screen was one of the Council’s major community projects each year, attracting large audiences and wide support from the community.
So he was confident the festival would continue next year, although it may be rebadged with a different name.
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Council has voted to waive fees for two community-based organisations: South Burnett CTC Inc and Kingaroy’s SB Care.
The council waived Material Change Of Use application fees worth $5416 associated with CTC’s plans to build its Heritage Lodge community housing project at the corner of Gipps and Dalby streets in Nanango.
It also waived an $850 Building Assessment fee associated with SB Care’s plans to construct an outdoor area at the Kingaroy Senior Citizens Centre to replace the existing one, which is considered unsafe.
Deputy Mayor Keith Campbell, who moved both motions, said the waivers were in line with normal policy surrounding not-for-profit community organisations.
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Community groups hoping to obtain second-hand wheelie bins after the recent rollout of new bins in Kingaroy, Nanango and Blackbutt may find the task more difficult than they thought.
Waste Portfolio chair Cr Kathy Duff told the meeting most Kingaroy residents appeared to be keeping their old bins, and a large number of old bins in Nanango were split or otherwise damaged.
“This means there are limited bins for community and sporting groups,” she said.
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A recent wild dog and pig trapping program run by the Council in conjunction with the Burnett Mary Regional Group had been quite successful, Cr Kathy Duff reported.
In all,the program had trapped 49 wild dogs, 67 pigs, eight cats and 10 foxes.
Cr Duff noted that the numbers might have been even higher if the program hadn’t followed closely on a 1080 baiting program that was run in the trapping areas.
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Council’s Healthy Communities Management Advisory Committee will continue to meet in the future, even though its three-year funding agreement with the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Healthy Communities Initiative Funding wound up on June 30th and programs funded by COAG will cease after this time.
The Healthy Communities Program has run numerous public health classes, courses and activities around the region over the past three years, including community kitchens; community gardens; heart health exercise programs; walking groups; and a visit by Jamie Oliver’s mobile kitchen.
Communities Portfolio head Cr Ros Heit advised fellow councillors that many of the programs begun by the Healthy Communities initiative are now being run by volunteers.
Committee members believe there may be a role for the Management Advisory Committee to assist small community groups to obtain funding for healthy lifestyle activities, but the committee’s name and concept may be changed.
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The Boondooma Museum & Heritage Association has signed a lease with the South Burnett Regional Council over the historic property, and hope new caretakers will be starting work at the property on August 3.
In the meantime, the historic complex will continue to be run by interim caretakers.
The association will also install a 250L hot water system in the Caretaker’s Cottage after concerns were raised that an existing 80L system is inadequate for the cottage’s size.
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The South Burnett Pantry will receive a $15,000 grant from the third round of the Mayor’s Community Benefit Fund to assist its community food aid program for disadvantaged South Burnett residents.
The Pantry was one of 11 community groups who lodged applications for the round, which had a focus on projects that delivered a meaningful outcome to the wider South Burnett community.
The round offered a single $15,000 grant and – in all – the Mayor’s Community Benefit Fund Assessment Committee received requests for $167,912.90 in funding.
The South Burnett Pantry will apply the $15,000 towards the purchase and installation of a $16,247, 3m x 2.4m walk-in freezer.
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An unnamed road located between Pedersons Road and Birds Road in Cushnie will be permanently closed at the request of the Department of Natural Resources and Mines.
The road abuts the eastern boundary of Lot 2 FY669 in the Cushnie locality, and is 6710 sq m in size.
The land would be amalgamated with Lot 3 on RP853876 to allow a legal point of access onto Birds Road.
Council offered no objection to DNRM’s request.
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An internal road at the Sonrose Estate in Millis Way, Nanango, will be named Sonrose Court.
The street is a cul-de-sac that extends from Millis Way and is the access point for nine internal allotments in the sub-division.
Cr Barry Green said he had no objection to the application, and no other councillors had one either – it was passed unanimously.
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The South Burnett Regional Council underwent a small portfolio reshuffle at this month’s meeting.
Cr Ros Heit will take on the Communications and Arts Portfolios in addition to her current work in the Communities Portfolio.
The Arts portfolio was formerly handled by South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann, while Communications is a new portfolio.
Mayor Kratzmann will continue to chair the Governance and Economic Development & Tourism portfolios, while Deputy Mayor Keith Campbell will continue to chair the Finance and Planning portfolios.
Cr Damien Tessmann will head up Roads & Drainage, while Cr Debra Palmer will retain the Commercial Property portfolio.
Cr Barry Green will continue as chair of the Water & Wastewater and Sport & Recreation portfolios.
And Cr Kathy Duff will continue her roles as chair of the Waste, Natural Resources Management, Parks & Environment and Indigenous Affairs portfolios.
Cr Green said he was upset at not being given the Arts portfolio but would press on regardless.
