June 16, 2016
The Wondai Sprints were worth the years of planning it took to get the event up and running in the South Burnett, Cr Roz Frohloff says.
Cr Frohloff, chair of the Sport and Recreation portfolio, told Wednesday’s Council meeting the inaugural Sprints were “a massive success”.
One hundred drivers registered to take part in the event, and a further 120 took part in a Show and Shine on Sunday.
Wondai businesses also benefitted from the Sprints, with local hotels packed out on Friday and Saturday night and most accommodation in the town booked out too.
Cr Frohloff said many drivers had commented to her that compared to established tracks like Oakey and Leyburn, the track in the town’s industrial estate equalled or bettered them.
And since most of this year’s competitors have already signed up for next year’s event, she was confident the Wondai Sprints next outing in 2017 will be bigger and better again.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the organisers and all the volunteers for getting this event off the ground and making it a success,” Cr Frohloff said.
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A Winter Swimming Meet held at the South Burnett Aquatic Centre last Sunday attracted more than 100 swimmers from 24 swimming clubs.
Cr Frohloff said the purpose of the meet was to test competitors to see if they were on the right track to meet qualifying times for major state and national swimming competitions.
Nanango’s heated indoor pool proved to be an ideal venue
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Demolition of the old Kingaroy Waste Water Treatment Plant will commence in July, Cr Frohloff said.
Operators are still be trained in the new plant’s operations, but commissioning of the $20 million project is going well.
Cr Frohloff said the technology used to run the new plant is significantly different to the manual processes used to run the old waste water treatment plant, especially the Nerada bioreactors.
But the bioreactors are operating so well they have shortened the timeframe needed to bring the new plant up to full capacity.
Work on an upgrade of the trunk main should begin in July, and the Council will be calling two tenders next month: one to upgrade the irrigation works at the adjoining farm, and the other to supply instrumentation for the new plant’s laboratory.
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The new Gordonbrook Water Treatment Plant is operating well, producing improvements in water quality and taste.
Further refinement of chlorine dose levels will continue in the coming months, though, as plant operators experiment to find the ideal mix.
Aquatec Maxcon – who built the new plant – have now left the site, but there is still a small amount of commissioning work they need to do.
Building decommissioning and site clean-up should complete the project.
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Work on refurbishing the Murgon Water Treatment Plant is continuing, but at a slower pace than originally expected after contractors discovered significant damage at the base of one of the internal vessels.
The contractors are now evaluating what level of repairs will be needed to bring the vessel back to a functional state.
In the meantime – while repair works are underway – the contractors have installed backwash tanks, made upgrades to the plant’s control systems and installed additional pipework.
Thoroughly enjoyed the inaugural Wondai sprints and looking forward to the 2017 event. Good racing surface along with a nice flat pit/camping area along with plenty of racing laps.. Well done to all involved.
Cheers Rad