September 16, 2015
South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann will be travelling to Brisbane to lobby the State Government about the urgent need to upgrade the Wondai-Chinchilla Road.
The Mayor told Wednesday’s Council meeting the section of road between Durong and Tingoora was still the same width it was 30 years ago.
He thought this was unacceptable.
“Recently a local transport business that’s been operating here for 20 years announced it would be selling up and relocating to Dalby because of the lack of Road Train routes in our area,” the Mayor said.
The company made the decision for purely economic reasons and he didn’t blame them, but the issue had wider ramifications.
This firm’s departure was likely to have an impact on other local firms which supply it with tyres, fuel, spare parts and other consumables.
The Mayor said at present Road Train drivers have to uncouple their second load at Durong because the state of the Wondai-Chinchilla Road between Durong and Tingoora is unsuitable for those types of transports.
This doubles delivery times and costs for shipments coming into the region from Chinchilla and other western areas.
“The South Burnett has been very strong in agitating for better road funding and we’ve had some successes in the past,” the Mayor said.
“This is another case where we need more road investment by the State Government.”
The Mayor thought the Tingoora-Wondai stretch could be made suitable for Road Trains if it were widened and a few overtaking lanes built.
He will be discussing the matter with the Director-General of Main Roads on Thursday, September 17.
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Work to replace three wooden bridges on Weens Road, Mondure Road and Campbells Road has begun, Cr Damien Tessmann told Wednesday’s meeting.
A contract for the work has been awarded to Construction Project Management, and the company are now removing the old timber bridges to prepare the sites for work.
Local road detours – either side tracks or re-routing – are in place.
The detours will remain until the new bridges have been completed.
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GenEng Solutions have been engaged to undertake detailed design and contract administration on the Memerambi Estate project, and the Council expects to be calling tenders in October.
Cr Tessmann said further assessments will be finalised before the end of the year.
Remedial work on the failed housing subdivision is expected to begin early in 2016.
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The SBRC will be hosting a workshop for sporting and not-for-proifit organisations in November which will instruct them about how to construct their annual Budgets, Cr Barry Green told Wednesday’s meeting.
The November workshop will follow a recent “Rewrite Your Constitution” workshop arranged by the State Government.
A third workshop will be held next February to instruct groups on the best ways to secure funding.
Presenters from the State Government’s Department of Sport and Recreation, Stanwell Corporation, BIEDO and Council will be explaining the various local and state funding opportunities available.
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The toilet and shower blocks at First Settlers Park in Benarkin will be replaced in the foreseeable future, Cr Kathy Duff said.
Planning for the project has begun and the work has been scheduled in this year’s Budget.
Replacement barbecues for Blackbutt have also arrived at Council’s stores, and will be installed over the next few weeks.
A barbecue will also be installed at the Murgon Skate Park and should be operational for September’s school holidays.
New play equipment for Dingo Park in Wondai, and Memorial Park and the Glendon Street Park in Kingaroy has been ordered, and should be operational by Christmas.
In addition, six new holiday cabins – three at Lake Boondooma and three at Yallakool – are now in use, and all of them have already been booked out for the up-coming school holidays.
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The SBRC has agreed to waive a $1200 Building Application Fee for the Kingaroy and District Vintage Machinery Club.
The non-profit club wants to build a 422 sq. m. shed at their grounds in Geoff Raph Drive at Kingaroy Airport to store antique farm machinery, and members had written to Council requesting the fee be waived.
Council agreed to the request unanimously, but in accordance with usual practice will retain the $168 document lodgement fee.
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The Council voted in a closed session on Wednesday to award several contracts which had recently been put out to tender:
- A $1.354 million contract was awarded to SRS Roads Pty Ltd for bitumen road sealing
- A $269,000 contract was awarded to Ray Grace Truck and Bus for the supply of two Mitsubishi trucks, which will replace two existing vehicles
- A $68,000 per annum contract to Summer Country Aquatics for the lease and operation of Nanango’s South Burnett Aquatic Centre
- A $62,900 per annum contract to Adrian and Rachel Niemann for management services at the Wondai Memorial Pool
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Round Five of the Mayor’s Community Benefit Fund received eleven applications and approved six of them.
The successful applications were:
- $484 to the Nanango Playgroup for banner funding
- $3325 to the Kingaroy State High School for its Sport & Community Connections program
- $3600 to the Moffatdale State School P&C to construct an Outdoor Learning Environment
- $2046 to Kumbia Kindergarten Inc for their ‘Hello Highway’ project
- $3000 to South Burnett Arts Inc for their ‘Winter Warming’ project
- $3000 to the Proston Golden Spurs Campdraft Association to establish a Proston Pony Club
Applications from the Queensland Dairy & Heritage Museum, the Blackbutt Benarkin Aged Care Association, Moffatdale State Primary School and South Burnett Peace Of Mind were not approved because they did not meet the round’s funding criteria.
An application from the Cultural Care Network for its PaCHiS Program was supported in principle, but the group were asked to provide further information before a final decision could be made.
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Round Six of the Mayor’s Community Benefit Fund will open for applications of Thursday, October 1 and close on Friday, October 30.
$15,000 has been allocated to the grant round.
The funding criteria for Round Six will be to support organisations that actively provide support for the community in need at Christmas, and meet the funding criteria in the Mayor’s Community Benefit Fund Guidelines.
