October 8, 2015
Kingaroy’s water supply will be switched from Boondooma Dam to Gordonbrook Dam from October 19 to 23 as part of the Gordonbrook Water Treatment Plant upgrade.
Water portfolio chair Cr Barry Green said installation of parts of the new treatment plant would require power to be turned off at the site.
“This means the existing treatment plant will have to be operated out of normal hours, and for longer periods, to make sure there’s sufficient water for Kingaroy,” Cr Green said.
He said work also needed to be carried out on the line feeding into the existing plant from Lake Boondooma, which meant a brief switch to Gordonbrook water.
In addition – because the plant will only be operating at half capacity when this occurs – water production will be reduced.
“It may be necessary to restrict outside use of water in Kingaroy for a period during that week,” Cr Green warned.
Notices and information about any restrictions will be shared with residents in the period leading up to October 19.
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Residents are being locked out of the Wondai and Murgon waste facilities when they’re being serviced to prevent any repeat of an accident at the Kingaroy landfill two years ago which caused a man to lose his leg.
The injured man, who worked for commercial waste company Vic’s Bins, was injured on May 20, 2013, at the Kingaroy Waste Transfer Station when he was crushed by a reversing front-end loader.
He suffered multiple fractures to his pelvis, vertebrae and left femur; a perforated bowel and bladder; and had his left leg amputated below the knee.
Cr Ros Heit told Wednesday’s Council meeting the Council had undertaken a review of all its waste facilities after the accident and implemented changes in an attempt to prevent a similar situation happening again.
One of those changes was to close the Wondai and Murgon waste facilities whenever the skip bins were being emptied.
Cr Heit said although the changes had been made two years ago, some residents had only recently become aware of them when they went to one of the facilities and found it closed.
She said Council recognised this was an inconvenience and apologised for it.
“But Council is also committed to the safety of the public and this measure is necessary to ensure the protection of everyone.”
She said most residents could expect delays of up to an hour when the Wondai and Murgon waste facilities were closed, which was generally between the hours of 6:30am and 9:30am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
However the facilities may also receive a service on a Sunday, depending on how much rubbish was deposited over a weekend.
Both facilities have signs placed on the main gate when they’re being serviced.
New signs which will soon be installed will also provide an indication of when the facility will re-open again.
Cr Heit said if people don’t want to encounter the closure possibility at all, they should use the waste facilities on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday.
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Both of the South Burnett’s dams were booked to capacity over the October long weekend, Parks portfolio chair Cr Kathy Duff told Wednesday’s Council meeting.
Dams manager Corey Goldie said the new cabins at the dams were proving extremely popular.
“They look so good and are so well fitted out that they are the cabins everyone wants to be in and are nearly always the first to be booked,” Cr Duff said.
Cr Duff also reported that the South Burnett and Cherbourg On Show weekend appeared to have gone very well.
Large numbers of people attended many events, including the Cultural Concert at BP Dam, and she understood most participants were very happy to have been involved.
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The new South Burnett Planning Scheme has reached the stage where all amendments from an initial State Interest Check have now been included, Planning Portfolio chair Cr Keith Campbell said.
The draft scheme will now be submitted to the Minister, seeking his approval to have it released to the public for submissions.
A draft Local Heritage Plan is also underway.
A consultant engaged for the project will undertake further field work, as well as one-on-one consultations with the owners of properties identified as having possible heritage significance.
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Council has settled $2.1 million worth of debt with the Queensland Treasury Corporation this year.
Finance portfolio chair Cr Keith Campbell told Wednesday’s Council meeting the SBRC made its annual debt service payment of $4.1 million to Queensland Treasury Corporation on September 15.
Cr Campbell reported the Council is currently paying $2.024 million a year interest on its QTC borrowings.
The difference between the two represents a $2 million reduction in Council’s overall QTC debt.
