March 23, 2015
Blackbutt residents could know within six weeks who will be building them a modern supermarket on the current site of the Blackbutt Memorial Hall.
The news was delivered to about 180 Blackbutt residents at a public meeting held in the hall on Monday night.
South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann told the audience that since last September when the town voted to support a Council attempt to get a supermarket for Blackbutt, he had been working hard to advance the project.
He apologised for the six months that had passed since a similar meeting had given almost unanimous support for the concept, but said it was a complex project and “these things take time”.
The good news, however, was that Council had called for Expressions of Interest in the project and had received two responses.
And at its most recent meeting last week, it had resolved to invite both groups who had expressed interest to submit formal tenders.
The Mayor said documentation for the tender had been compiled, and it was normal practice for tenders to remain open for six weeks so the successful applicant probably wouldn’t be known until mid-May.
The Mayor stressed that because of rules of conduct governing the commercial dealings of councils, he was not at liberty to say which companies had submitted EOIs. Nor would he or any other councillors be involved in the tender process.
Tenders were “operational matters” handled entirely by Council staff, he said.
But in September he had promised to keep the community updated on progress, and that was why he had called the meeting.
The Mayor said he was hopeful Council would receive two responses to the tender, but warned it might only receive one or – in a worst case – none at all.
“If that were to happen we’d be back at square one,” he said.
But once the outcome of the tender was known, he promised to call another public meeting to share the news with the Blackbutt community.
The Mayor underlined that Council’s position on the project was it had to be cost-neutral.
He said the Council was about to invest $3 million upgrading Blackbutt’s kerbing and drainage so it did not have any money to invest in a supermarket itself.
Instead, the successful tenderer would be given the two CBD blocks Blackbutt Memorial Hall currently sits on in exchange for agreeing to shift the Hall to a new location nominated by the Blackbutt community.
He said if a successful tenderer was chosen, then he would be calling on the community to select the new location for the Hall, and would like people to “start thinking about it now”.
“It will be the community’s choice where the Hall’s new home will be, not Council’s,” he said.
“This is your hall and your town’s project … we’re just here to see if we can make it happen for Blackbutt.”
The Mayor received several spontaneous rounds of applause during the course of the meeting.
Some were for the work he’d put in; some for his opinions on the positive impact the project would have on the town; and one for his response to questioner Maureen Paul, who alleged he had been involved in secret dealings with a supermarket chain which hadn’t been disclosed at the September meeting.
“I don’t know where you got that idea, Maureen, but it’s not true and I’m not going to stand for it,” the Mayor replied.
“When the people of Blackbutt told me they needed a supermarket in this town, I took that on board and I’ve worked my butt off to make it happen ever since. That’s the truth.”
The Mayor said he was personally in favour of the project because the community genuinely needed a modern supermarket and he believed it would kick-start the town.
“It will create jobs for your children, increase your property values and help attract other businesses and residents to Blackbutt,” he said.
“It’s an exciting thing for the town and I can see a very bright future ahead.
“Blackbutt is the gateway to the South Burnett so I want to see it in as good a shape as possible.”
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