Mayor Meets With King Street Owners

Several King Street blocks back on to Prince Street, an undeveloped road in the failed Memerambi Estate development the SBRC will now build, kerb and seal

SBRC Mayor Wayne Kratzmann — South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann (Photo: SBRC)

June 9, 2015

South Burnett mayor Wayne Kratzmann and Council staff met on Tuesday afternoon with residents of King Street, Memerambi, who were adversely affected by last week’s vote to make the controversial failed Memerambi Estate a “benefitted area”.

The vote – which means the cost of installing infrastructure will be carried by the Estate’s landholders – is an attempt by the South Burnett Regional Council to get the stalled development moving again, without costing other South Burnett ratepayers any money.

Each block will be levied $32,000 over 10 years to allow the infrastructure to be built.

However, the decision has also caught up some residents in nearby King Street, who have been living on lots from the historical sub-division developed much earlier than the failed Memerambi Estate project.

Mayor Kratzmann told southburnett.com.au today that Councillors knew three King Street blocks would be affected by the proposal to make the estate a benefitted area, but there was a legal process that had to be gone through first.

“The decision on Wednesday had to be about the benefitted area only,” he said.

“The legal advice we had was that (the King Street owners) had to be in the benefitted area.

“However, Councillors always had a will to help these people out, even before the media publicity.

“The decision had to be based on the legalities first but (the King Street owners) weren’t a part of this development.

“We have to find a way around it that is legal. It had to be done this way.”

The Council has pre-approval from Queensland Treasury to borrow the funds necessary to provide the infrastructure – estimated to cost about $2.1 million – although technically this still has to be approved at a Council meeting.

Mayor Kratzmann said design work for the project would start ASAP and contractors would be hired to do the work once this had been finished.

He confirmed that the $2.1 million loan was part of the projected borrowings included in Council’s 2014-15 Budget, which also included $3 million to end flooding problems in Blackbutt’s CBD, $2.1 million for bridges, $2 million for Kingaroy’s water system and $500,000 for upgrades to the region’s waste transfer stations.

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