November 9, 2017
Murgon has had a very good year and can look forward to more of the same in 2018, the Murgon Business and Development Association (MBDA) heard on Thursday morning.
The group was holding its Annual General Meeting at the Royal Hotel, along with its normal monthly breakfast meeting.
Leo Geraghty from Clifton Motors was re-elected as President, Margaret Long from Murgon Real Estate as Secretary, Stacey Perrett from the Murgon Visitor Information Centre as Treasurer and Mark Smith from Mark Smith’s Menswear assumed the new position of Vice President.
Delivering his President’s Report at the AGM, Leo said record cattle prices and recent rains had set the district’s farmers up for a good summer season.
He noted that while there were still a few vacant shops in town, a large number of businesses had opened up during the past year and Murgon’s population was continuing to grow.
There had been record roll-ups to fishing competitions at Bjelke-Petersen Dam and Boondooma Dam, which had added a lot of tourism revenue to the town’s economy.
Murgon’s free 48 hour camping ground had also injected many thousands of dollars into local shops, as well as given the town an opportunity to promote nearby commercial parks to encourage visitors to take up an extended stay.
Community events like the recent Murgon Music Muster, Moffatdale Ridge’s Italian Day, Dusty Hill’s Dusty Day Out, the annual Indigenous Golf Tournament, South Burnett and Cherbourg On Show, the opening of the South Burnett Rail Trail and many others had also helped spread even more tourist dollars into the district.
To further encourage tourism, two of the town’s three new street maps had now been erected, and Murgon has also gained RV Friendly certification.
Leo passed on special thanks to Member for Wide Bay Llew O’Brien for his help in securing a $400,000 lighting and CCTV system for Murgon’s CBD, along with a much-needed extension to the Murgon Men’s Shed and an upgrade to the South Burnett PCYC’s acoustics.
He also thanked the South Burnett Regional Council, Deputy Mayor Kathy Duff and Council’s Natural Resources and Parks Manager Greg Griffiths for their beautification work in the town’s central parklands, and extensions to the popular Rotary Skate Park, during the past year.
Leo reported that in 2017 Murgon Moments had also grown, lifting its circulation to a new high of 3800 copies per month and chalking up its 134th edition since its revival in 2006.
Finally, he thanked the town’s hardworking Christmas Fair committee and the many volunteers who contributed their time to building Murgon’s social fabric.
In conclusion, Leo warned he would need to put more time into his own business in the coming year because of recent changes in the motor industry, but he thanked other MBDA members for their own commitment, especially his fellow executive members.
