September 29, 2018
Kingaroy police would like to see more security cameras in Kingaroy, and they also want to involve the public in the process.
Officer-in-Charge of Kingaroy Police, Senior Sergeant David Tierney, told the Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (KCCI) recent Meet’n’Greet that local police supported an application by the Chamber to the Federal Government to get a CCTV system installed in Kingaroy’s CBD.
While the outcome of this application isn’t yet known, Sgt Tierney said police knew there were many private CCTV systems monitoring shops, homes and offices in Kingaroy already.
Police would like to work with all the town’s CCTV owners to form a “community camera alliance” and they hoped to launch the initiative before Christmas.
Sgt Tierney said businesses or homeowners who have installed a CCTV system could register their address with the police.
If a crime occurred near a particular CCTV system, police could then contact the owner to find out if anything had been captured on their cameras.
Sgt Tierney, who transferred to Kingaroy from Dalby earlier this year, said the existence of private CCTV systems had helped Dalby police solve two major arson incidents in that town.
While CCTV cameras didn’t capture either crime, they did detect a group of youths walking near both crime scenes in the early hours of the morning a short time before each of the two fires broke out.
This allowed police to quickly narrow the focus of their investigations.
“The biggest benefit of CCTV is that it builds community confidence,” Sgt Tierney said.
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Many local businesses are missing out on sales because they haven’t yet registered as providers for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Nina Temperton, from South Burnett CTC, said her organisation had been reluctantly forced to buy goods and services for some of their NDIS clients from outside the region – even though the same things were available in the South Burnett – because local businesses hadn’t registered.
She said she understood the NDIS was “a bit of a paperwork nightmare” at the moment, but stressed it was in the interests of businesses to register.
“We want to buy locally and NDIS looks likely to become big in our region,” Mrs Temperton said.
“Apart from goods, there aren’t enough allied health professionals registered, either.”
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Changes to Council rates need to be communicated in advance – and steep rises well in advance – before they are introduced, KCCI president Rob Fitz-Herbert told the meeting.
Businesses and farms draw up budgets and they need forewarning if one of their basic costs is going to rise, he said.
Mr Fitz-Herbert suggested one way the Council could improve next year would be to hold a “listening tour” several months before it brought down its Budget to inform the community what to expect.
Then it could hold a post-Budget tour, as it is doing now, to see what ratepayers thought.
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In addition to applying for CCTV to be installed in Kingaroy’s CBD, Mr Fitz-Herbert said the KCCI was also partnering with the Jandowae Business Group and Member for Maranoa David Littleproud to lobby for better telecommunications on the Bunya Highway.
Mr Fitz-Herbert said both chambers would like to see an end to black spots between Kingaroy and Dalby, and so would Coopers Gap Wind Farm operators AGL.
At present, most of the wind farm sits in a black spot and the cost of erecting a telecommunications tower to solve the problem was prohibitive.
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The next six-weekly KCCI Meet’n’Greet will be held on October 20 at Generation Funerals, starting at 5:15pm.
Meet’n’Greets provide updates on issues of interest to South Burnett businesses, and often include updates on council matters, as well as networking opportunities.
Meeting fees are $10 to cover overheads, and all businesses are welcome whether they’re KCCI members or not.
More details about the next Meet’n’Greet or KCCI membership can be obtained by emailing KCCI secretary Paula Greenwood
