December 22, 2016
This is South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell’s first Christmas in the job. Here he reflects back on what he identifies as the main achievements since the March election:
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by Mayor Keith Campbell
In the nine months since I was elected as your Mayor, I have been quietly getting on with putting in place Council’s response to the most important issues raised during the election campaign – roads and preservation of the road levy; economic development; and an ethical, responsible and approachable management.
Part of my response to the issues raised was to appoint Councillors to portfolios they could add most value to, and deliver the best value back to you as ratepayers and residents.
It has been a very rewarding nine months, building on the relationships I have with our State and Federal representatives, to continue lobbying for our needs in the South Burnett.
The great relationships we hold with our Federal and State Government counterparties was evident when the government quickly joined in with the community as we rallied to respond to the recent Swickers fire.
Council’s Local Disaster Management Team, together with Swickers’ own very effective Disaster Management Plan, receive my highest commendation.
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Many of you know my preference for “talking”, and that supports my preferred approach to managing issues that concern you, too.
It is important to me as a person – and also as your Mayor – that you feel listened to, and that your concerns are dealt with respectfully.
Midway through 2016 I initiated several “Listening Tours” with our Councillors around the region, and I am grateful for the time and dedication all your Councillors contributed to this initiative.
The feedback we’ve received confirms they were very successful, and we will be repeating them again around mid-2017.
The tours were part of our commitment to reduce the number of complaints, particularly with roads, by sitting down to talk through all the issues and, equally as important, keeping ratepayers updated with all of Council’s activities.
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The Councillors I chose to head up the Portfolio areas have all grown into their roles and responsibilities very admirably.
To highlight one of their many achievements here, I chose Cr Gavin Jones to lead the Roads and Infrastructure Portfolio.
Gavin and I launched an audit to review operational efficiencies with road works. That audit is now complete and will be released to Council during January 2017.
At the first Budget Meeting of the new Council, I also encouraged the view that we prioritise road capital expenditure and that large, one-off capital works in towns be deferred for a couple of years so we could reinvest this money into rural roads.
Division 3 and 4 Councillors Danita Potter and Terry Fleischfresser gave up a large chunk of capital money for their town area to invest in rural roads.
That decision, together with the findings in the external audit, has already delivered many positive impacts on our rural road network, and there will be many more in the months to come.
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To maintain the momentum in 2017, I’ve also been working with the CEO and Councillors to undertake a range of other initiatives.
Among them is improving relationships with developers in new development applications; updating the forward economic development strategy; and generally looking at how Council can achieve best practice and create further efficiencies across the entire organisation.
All these initiatives will help drive economic development, secure and stabilise local jobs and businesses, and help keep rates affordable.
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Santa delivered some good news to close out 2016 a few weeks ago when we were notified that four new sites had received funding as part of the Mobile Black Spot Funding Program to improve telecommunications access in the South Burnett.
This was another win for creating more opportunities for economic development and improving the liveability of our region.
Another one of my election commitments was greater recognition and support for agriculture, and this is well on track.
An agricultural sub-committee has been launched, and water for agricultural irrigation is now a part of our economic platform.
The issue of water for agriculture has also been adopted by the Wide Bay Burnett Regional Organisation of Councils, which only helps to strengthen the South Burnett’s case.
Council recognises that the current road regulations are both a limitation for existing businesses, as well as potential new business, that need a safe road system which supports a range of heavy vehicle configurations.
So we are working with the transport authorities to see if we can improve heavy vehicle access to our businesses in the South Burnett.
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My aim is to secure existing businesses and attract strong and diverse industries that can take up any gaps created by the exiting of any of our current large employers.
For example, the impacts the South Burnett would experience would be enormous if the pressure to close coal fired power stations came sooner rather than later.
So I have taken this up as one my main priorities, and I will work with all levels of government in a proactive and planned way in order to ensure we are not caught off guard.
During the balance of this term we want to be well advanced with a new streetscape plan for Kingaroy CBD and new footpaths for Murgon’s CBD.
In the last nine months we’ve also completed negotiations for relocation of the Blackbutt Hall to make way for a new supermarket; and the reports coming from the management of the Lady Bjelke-Petersen Community Hospital confirm that Council’s support is helping to deliver improved medical services and local jobs.
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The completion of two of our major infrastructure projects – the Kingaroy Waste Water Treatment Plant and Gordonbrook Water Treatment Plant – will deliver long-term improvements for our region.
It was very rewarding for Council to receive two Queensland awards for these projects at the recent Institute of Public Works Engineering Excellence Awards.
I’ve also invested considerable effort in ensuring that the foundations for this four-year term are now set, and I am pleased there is a clear strategy to guide our priorities in 2017.
There is much to deliver, and I am pleased to be able to serve our region with energy and passion to ensure our future is always positive and stronger.
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Finally, I’m honoured to serve as your Mayor and I want to thank my fellow Councillors and all of Council’s staff for their dedication to our safe, liveable and beautiful South Burnett.
My wife Marion and I wish each and every one of you a very happy, safe and blessed Christmas.
We look forward to 2017 and hope it brings prosperity and good health for all.
