February 24, 2015
The Blackbutt community’s three top priorities for the coming five years are the development of a Community Space Master Plan for the town; building a supermarket; and wider educational opportunities for Blackbutt-Benarkin’s youth.
Other priorities include establishing a community bus service to provide transport for residents unable to drive; improved community services for the elderly; the establishment of a part-time or full-time Blackbutt dental clinic; a recycling depot; and an expanded youth scholarship program.
The community’s goals for 2015-2020 were decided at a public meeting called by Blackbutt’s Bendigo Community Bank branch at the Blackbutt Memorial Hall last Wednesday night.
Almost 64 Blackbutt and Benarkin residents attended the meeting, which was compered by Bendigo Community Bank board member Jeff Connor, assisted by staff from the branch.
The meeting – the first of its kind held since the Blackbutt branch opened in 2010 – was called to review progress on goals the community set in 2010, and decide on a new set to pursue in the years ahead.
Mr Connor said the branch donated profits from its operations back to the local community.
It wanted to be sure it was putting those funds towards projects that the local community genuinely wanted.
Mr Connor told the audience that at the last public meeting in 2010, Blackbutt residents said their nine most important minor goals were: better lighting for community facilities such as the Blackbutt Showgrounds and football field; improved community amenities, including fixing the town clock; creating “Welcome to Blackbutt” signs, more community seating and general town beautification; and improvements to the Blackbutt Memorial Hall.
The community also wanted to see the creation of bike tracks and walking trails in the area; to fix a local footpath which had fallen into disrepair; to creating a Blackbutt-Benarkin town website; obtain a shade cloth for the Blackbutt Kindy; improve disability access to the town’s shops and footpaths; and to form a community group.
At the same meeting, the following major projects had also been identified:
- Improving aged care services in the town
- The creation of a dedicated medical service centre
- Development of a town museum
- Introduction of a community bus service
- Attracting more businesses to set up in Blackbutt
- Improved swimming and sporting facilities
- Development of better youth facilities
- Stationing a First Response vehicle in town
- Improving road safety with a pedestrian crossing, and fixing the Cooyar Creek bridge
Mr Connor then walked the audience through both lists to examine how far the town had come during the past five years.
Most of the minor projects had been achieved – some with direct funding assistance from the branch; some through volunteer community efforts; and some (like the opening of the Blackbutt-Linville Rail Trail) fortuitously.
As far as the major projects went, many had also been partially or fully achieved, although a few remained “actionable”.
Audience members were then asked to draw up a new list of major projects through an hour-long brainstorming session.
After this, all ideas were put on a whiteboard and voted on to determine the community’s priorities.
The development of a Community Space Master Plan emerged as the town’s top priority.
The view of those at the meeting was that they wanted to see a long-term, professional plan developed for the town’s public and open spaces which would yield better sporting facilities, better streetscaping, improved public spaces and a community botanical garden.
The second highest priority was the establishment of a modern supermarket in the town.
While the meeting acknowledged the South Burnett Regional Council was already engaged in trying to get a private developer to build a supermarket on the site currently occupied by the Memorial Hall, the meeting wanted to underline that this remained a top priority.
Audience members at the meeting also said they wanted to see more educational opportunities for the town’s youth, partly to retain them in the area and partly to make better use of energies which might otherwise go to waste.
A community bus service – an unfilled goal from the 2010 list – remained the town’s fourth major goal, followed by improved community services for elderly residents such as a Meals On Wheels service and better disabled access around town; a dental clinic; and a recycling service.
At the conclusion of the two-hour meeting, Mr Connor thanked everyone who attended for their genuine interest in building a better Blackbutt, and the positive and constructive way the meeting had been conducted.
He also presented a defibrillator to the Blackbutt Golf Club as a $5000 gift from the bank branch to mark the meeting.
Mr Connor noted the average age of Blackbutt residents was steadily rising, so installing defibrillators at the town’s community facilities might help save lives in the future.
The Blackbutt branch will now consider ways it can assist the community to reach its new goals over the coming five years.
