September 16, 2014
A public meeting will be held at the Blackbutt Community Hall next Monday night, September 22, to gauge the local community’s reaction to a proposal to build a supermarket on the site of the hall.
If residents agree, the Blackbutt Community Hall would be relocated to another site in town and a multi-million supermarket complex would be built on the current Hall site.
But if the community does not agree, then things will remain as they are.
Yesterday the South Burnett Regional Council sent letters to Blackbutt and Benarkin residents inviting them to attend the meeting, which will begin at 6:30pm.
South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann said the need for a supermarket in the town had been a long-standing issue with many locals, but it was up to the community to decide if they wanted to take up this particular option or not.
“Council has received an approach from a developer who thinks the Hall site would be the best location for a supermarket,” Mayor Kratzmann said.
“They looked at several sites around the town but felt the hall site would be the best for their plans.
“If Blackbutt residents agree, then the Community Hall would be moved to another site on land Council owns. This could be near the Showgrounds area, or perhaps on the old tennis courts site.
“But the decision on this isn’t up to us – it’s up to residents.
“We’re simply going to present all the facts we have at the meeting and then let locals decide what they want to do.”
The Mayor said the idea had already been discussed with the Blackbutt and Benarkin Community Council, who took over management of the Hall from Council in 2012, and they had no objection to it.
But it was now time to take the proposal to the rest of the community.
“At the moment, Blackbutt residents who want to shop at a supermarket have to travel to Yarraman or Kilcoy,” he said.
“This is very costly and there are a lot of pensioners in Blackbutt who’d prefer to be able to do their supermarket shopping locally.
“But if Blackbutt residents don’t want a supermarket and would prefer things to stay as they are, that’s ok, too.”
