June 16, 2016
The Nanango Tourism and Development Association (NaTDA) has merged with the former Nanango Chamber Of Commerce.
At Thursday night’s monthly NaTDA meeting, president Gloria Kirkness told members the group had recently taken over the assets of the defunct Chamber.
She thought this was a natural development because NaTDA was the organisation in Nanango most closely aligned with the Chamber’s key objective of stimulating business growth in the town.
NaTDA will not alter its name or constitution as a result of the merger but will continue to represent the interests of Nanango’s business community at a local level.
It will also continue to work with other groups and the South Burnett Regional Council to advance local business interests.
Nanango business operators who would like to join NaTDA are welcome.
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NaTDA will investigate the possibility of relocating the former Nanango Railway Station back to its original site in Pioneer Park.
The railway station was moved to the Nanango Race Club’s grounds several years ago and is currently being used as a storage space.
NaTDA president Gloria Kirkness said if the railway station building was returned to its original site, it could be turned into a rail museum – as well as a storage space and NaTDA meeting room – that would add another tourist attraction to the town.
The group voted to discuss the idea with the Nanango Race Club and the South Burnett Regional Council in the next few months to determine their attitude towards it.
If both groups are agreeable, NaTDA will then determine the full cost of the project, then see where funding might be sourced to carry it out.
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NaTDA’s next “Adopt A Spot” road side clean-up will occur at 9:30am on Sunday, July 24.
Members of the group have been cleaning a section of the D’Aguilar Highway between the Tarong Road turn-off and Brown Street every three to four months for the past four years.
The group pick litter off both sides of the highway to help Nanango present a clean face to the outside world.
Their efforts were recently recognised by the Adopt-A-Spot program with the erection of roadside signs that mark out their “turf”.
Anyone who would like to lend a hand for a few hours in the next clean-up is welcome to join in.
After the morning’s effort, participants will be treated to a free barbecue at Tipperary Flat.
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A proposed rewards program that will be run by South Burnett Directions led to debate at NaTDA’s June meeting.
The group was unclear about how the program might work with the town’s own Mardi Gras Dollars promotion, which was run successfully last year in the three months leading up to Christmas.
Mardi Gras Dollars allowed shoppers to get tokens when they shopped at participating local businesses, which could be exchanged for a free night out at the Nanango New Year’s Eve Mardi Gras that included food, drinks and amusement rides.
Barry Green, from the Nanango Funfest committee, said the promotion had definitely worked, drawing an estimated crowd of 5000 to the Nanango Showgrounds on New Year’s Eve for the largest New Year’s Eve party seen in the South Burnett.
He had even heard of several Kingaroy people who transferred their weekly grocery shopping to Nanango’s IGA for three months so they could accumulate Mardi Gras Dollars.
Other members said they had been informed Mardi Gras Dollars would work in conjunction with the South Burnett Directions program, but weren’t clear about exactly how this would work.
The group will invite Sharyn Garrett from South Burnett Directions to address the next meeting in July.
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NaTDA may take over the running of the Nanango Funfest committee’s annual Casino Night if the Funfest committee wants to stop organising the event themselves.
Thursday night’s meeting was told the Funfest committee is short on manpower and it might be better if NaTDA ran the popular event.
Members said they would be agreeable to this if it would assist Funfest, but if NaTDA took it over they would probably make some changes.
Lowering the ticket price and possibly making the evening a biannual event were two ideas that were discussed.
NaTDA will write to the Funfest committee to determine how they would like to proceed.
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Work on creating an updated version of Nanango’s tourist map is continuing and a new version is expected to go into print within a few months.
The map lists details of events and attractions in Nanango and surrounding areas and carries advertisements for local tourism businesses.
The map is distributed at Nanango’s Visitor Information Centre and some events held at the Nanango Showgrounds.
The meeting heard the next edition of the tourist map is already fully subscribed.
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NaTDA is investigating installing a large “What’s On In Nanango” information board at Tipperary Flat.
The board would replace an outdated sign at the busy roadside rest stop, and advise visitors about up-coming events in the town.
NaTDA will ask the Nanango Men’s Shed if their members would be willing to help construct the sign, or have any advice about the best way to construct a noticeboard whose content will be changed on a regular basis.
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The Heritage Bank Nanango Film Festival was “wonderful” this year, NaTDA members heard, and should continue into the future.
The annual film festival, which celebrated its tenth birthday this year, was formerly run by the National Film and Sound Archives in Canberra.
Its primary focus is new Australian films and it is the only film festival of its type in Queensland.
The festival was in danger of collapse after Federal budget cuts until Nanango’s Heritage Community Bank stepped in to save the event.
NaTDA will send a letter to the bank to commend them for their sponsorship, and to ask if the bank would continue to do so next year.
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NaTDA will organise town tours of Nanango as part of this year’s South Burnett and Cherbourg On Show long weekend festival.
At Thursday’s meeting, members heard the town has a range of very interesting places for tourists to visit, and it would be feasible to hire a bus and take groups on guided tours of the area.
Apart from the October long weekend festival, members were told there were also other opportunities to run tours.
One might be the Heritage Nanango Country Music Muster, where some visitors who camped at the Nanango Showgrounds for four days would likely welcome a break.
The group voted to trial the bus tour concept at this year’s Muster, which will be held on September 8-11.
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NaTDA represents the interests of residents and businesses in Nanango and its surrounding district.
The group usually meet every third Thursday in the Nanango RSL’s Long Hai Room at 5:30pm. Meetings are followed by an optional social dinner in the RSL’s dining room.
NaTDA members are involved in a variety of community activities, and the group also organise periodic social outings for members which can include race days, visits to local wineries and bus tours.
New members are always welcome, and membership enquiries can be made by phoning Gloria on (07) 4163-2848.
