September 19, 2018
The South Burnett Regional Council has added an extra meeting to its upcoming Listening Tour after protests from residents living in the Durong and Boondooma areas.
The annual Listening Tour, which will start next Monday (September 24), was originally planned to cover eight destinations: Nanango, Blackbutt, Maidenwell, Kumbia, Kingaroy, Wondai, Murgon and Proston.
But on Wednesday, the Council announced a ninth meeting would now be held at Durong, at a date yet to be fixed.
[UPDATE – The Durong meeting is on Monday, October 22]
In July, farmers and residents in the Durong area organised a public meeting to protest against being charged rate rises as high as 17.5 per cent in this year’s Budget.
The rises came after the Council had originally forecast rural ratepayers might face rate rises of between 5 and 6 per cent.
Farmers said the area was in drought and being hit with such a large increase – without any warning – had thrown their own budgets into chaos.
They suggested Council consider extending the discount date for rate payments to provide a measure of relief.
In early August, the Council took up this suggestion and voted to extend the August rate discount period from its usual four weeks to ten weeks.
However, since this extension could not be limited to one class of ratepayers, it was given to all South Burnett ratepayers.
After the July meeting, Durong residents formed a South Burnett Residents and Ratepayers Group and set up a Facebook page to air their concerns.
When the Council announced it would be embarking on its 2018 Listening Tour earlier this week, the omission of Durong led to protests on the group’s social media page.
Durong residents have now been invited to contact the Council for the date, location and time for the Durong Listening Tour meeting.
Speaking about the up-coming Listening Tour, Roads portfolio chair Cr Gavin Jones said he was very confident about the Council’s planned approach to fixing the region’s roads, and encouraged as many people as possible to attend the meetings.
“We’re about to launch something very big with roads,” Cr Jones said.
“Get to those listening tours, and all of that information will be presented to you then and there.”
* * *
On Tuesday, September 25 Mayor Keith Campbell announced the Durong meeting will be held on Monday, October 22 at Durong Hall on the Wondai-Chinchilla Road.
Mayor Campbell said he always intended to include Durong in this year’s Listening Tour schedule, but had been away on annual holidays when the venue list was prepared.
He said Council had used the previous year’s schedule as a guide, and issued it soon after he returned to work.
Once he discovered Durong’s omission, however, he had an extra meeting added to the list.
Related articles:
- Council To Hold Another Listening Tour
- Ratepayers Win Six-Week Extension
- Angry Ratepayers Promised Road Fix
[UPDATED]
