September 5, 2016
Kingaroy Ambulance Station will soon be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the Kingaroy Chamber Of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) was told on Monday night.
Kingaroy Local Ambulance Committee president John Box broke the news to about 60 people who attended the KCCI’s latest six-weekly Meet’n’Greet, which was held at the South Burnett Directions office in Glendon Street.
Mr Box said the station upgrade would create six new jobs for ambulance personnel, and the change had been gazetted.
While there was as yet no official announcement from the Health Minister, he expected the upgrade would occur in early 2017.
Murgon’s ambulance station was upgraded to a 24×7 operation last year, Mr Box said, and Kingaroy’s workload was much higher so the change was very welcome.
Apart from allowing round-the-clock service to residents living in the ambulance station’s coverage area, the upgrade was also good news for local businesses.
“This could mean six new families moving into the area,” Mr Box said.
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“What would the South Burnett look like in 50 years if we sat on our hands and did nothing?” Mayor Keith Campbell asked Monday night’s meeting.
“And what might it look like if we examined all our options and opportunities and tried to develop them instead?”
Mayor Campbell said looking at options and opportunities what South Burnett Directions had been set up to do, and right now the group was working on projects in many areas that all had long-term potential to grow the region.
As the chair of the organisation, his own personal area of interest was agriculture.
He believed if it were possible for farmers to move from low-value commodity crops to higher-value crops, this would benefit not only South Burnett farmers but the wider community, too.
The main barrier to this was water and South Burnett Directions had embarked on a long term study to look into this.
Tourism was another area that had a lot of potential to improve the region, but the Mayor said he found this more challenging than agriculture because the South Burnett was not a traditional tourist destination like the Gold Coast or the Sunshine Coast.
All the same, he believed if all residents “upsold” the region there were reliable gains to be made.
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Mayor Campbell then introduced several members of South Burnett Directions to the meeting, who explained their own areas of interest on the voluntary board.
Durong beef producer Georgie Somerset said her main interests were telecommunications, education and agriculture.
Barb Madden, from Smithfield Feedlot, said her biggest interests were improving road access for heavy transports in the region, as well as eliminating telecommunications black spots.
Mrs Madden said Smithfield employed 45 people in the Proston area and added $2.5 million a year to the local economy. But it could do more if the feedlot had better road access and better phone and internet connectivity.
Graham Archdall said his own area of interest was small business. He was convinced that improving the skills of local business people and helping them grow their existing businesses was a sound way to ensure the jobs of tomorrow.
Ken Mills, from Ken Mills Toyota, agreed.
He said it was a great myth the South Burnett could attract a large business that would create 300 jobs, and this was an idea based more on hope than hard reality.
“Hope is not a business strategy,” Mr Mills said.
Instead, he said if KCCI members wanted to grow the region, their focus should be on retaining and growing their own businesses, because this was a certain path to future prosperity.
John Carey, from Stanwell Corporation, said his principal interest was the region’s communities and what could be done to improve the lives of people who lived in them.
He said Stanwell, which employs almost 600 full-time staff directly that in turn help support another 900 full-time jobs across the region.
Stanwell was keenly aware of the impact its operations had on the local economy, and took this into consideration whenever the company made its plans.
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Despite two floods, drought and a generally flat economy, the South Burnett’s population has continued to grow at a steady rate of about 1 per cent per annum over the last few years.
Economic Development Manager Phil Harding told the meeting the South Burnett is now home to more than 33,000 residents, and this figure was likely to move above 34,000 by the time the 2016 Census figures are published.
Mr Harding said in his role with Council, he was working on all South Burnett Directions projects.
But the ones engaging most of his attention at present were launching the South Burnett Rewards “buy local” campaign; conducting “Mentoring For Growth” workshops to upskill local businesses; having discussions with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator about improving B-double access to the region; and implementing the South Burnett’s Tourism Strategy.
In November, he said South Burnett Directions planned to hold a workshop with local operators from the food production, wine and catering industries to look into the possibility of kick-starting “culinary tourism” in the region.
Large crowds at events like Regional Flavours showed there was a big market for wine-and-dine tourism, and the South Burnett was only a few hours away from it.
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The KCCI’s next Meet’n’Greet will be held at SBCare’s offices at the corner of Avoca and Kingaroy Streets on Monday, October 10.
Meeting fees are $10 – to cover the cost of drinks and nibbles – and all interested businesses are welcome, whether they’re KCCI members or not.
