July 1, 2015
A successful tenderer for the Blackbutt supermarket development is expected to be announced within the next few months.
SBRC Mayor Wayne Kratzmann said today the tender process had been delayed by the need to look at infrastructure matters surrounding the project.
But he hoped to be able to meet with the Blackbutt community in August to update them on progress once this was completed.
“This (process) is taking a bit longer than I’d originally hoped,” the Mayor said.
“But it’s important we ensure this project is carried out at no cost to ratepayers, and as smoothly as possible.”
The project would require a successful tenderer to relocate the Blackbutt Memorial Hall to a new site in the town in order two free up two adjoining lots at the corner of Coulson and Muir Streets so a modern supermarket could be built there.
At present, Blackbutt is the only major town in the South Burnett without a supermarket.
This forces most residents to drive to Yarraman or other nearby towns for their household grocery shopping.
“Moving the Hall to a new home will require disconnecting and then reinstalling the water, plumbing and electricity. We want to ensure this is done properly so that there’s minimal disruption to everybody,” the Mayor said.
Mayor Kratzmann gained overwhelming support from the Blackbutt community to pursue the supermarket project at a public meeting held in the Hall last September.
The Council called for expressions of interest in the project in November, and announced in February that two had been received.
At a second public meeting in March, the Mayor updated residents on progress since the initial meeting.
He said at the time he hoped tenders would be called soon afterwards, and an outcome might be known as early as May.
However the need to ensure the Council dotted all “i’s” and crossed all “t’s” before issuing tenders had led to the delay.
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This is great news for Blackbutt. I know how hard Kratzie (in his final term) has worked to get a viable deal on the table and I can’t wait to hear who is the successful tenderer.