April 17, 2019
Problems with animals and water supplies still top the list of things people phone the South Burnett Regional Council about.
According to statistics presented at the Council’s April meeting, problems with animals remain the most common reason people contact the Council, generating 1377 phone calls since July 1 last year.
This was followed by water supply problems (1134), roads (1030), waste collection (739) and building matters (410).
However, the number of calls has more than doubled.
Last July, Council reported staff had received 14,786 requests to fix problems or carry out services between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017 – an average of 40 per day.
On Wednesday, Council reported they had dealt with 24,292 inbound calls so far this financial year, an average of about 87 per day.
- Related article: Animal Issues Still Top Complaints
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Social media has proven to be an ineffective way to reach ratepayers, so Council plans to return to letterboxing residents.
The admission was made by Infrastructure General Manager Aaron Meehan at Wednesday’s SBRC meeting.
In response to complaints that had been received about residents not being told about recent resealing work in Kingaroy, Mr Meehan said Council had relied on social media to let people know.
However, this had proven to be ineffective.
So Council will be returning to more traditional methods of notifying ratepayers, such as leaflets in letterboxes.
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Council will be flying the Aboriginal flag outside its Kingaroy chambers soon, alongside the Australian and Queensland flags and the South Burnett Regional Council flag.
Deputy Mayor Kathy Duff told Wednesday’s meeting a fourth flagpole has been erected outside the Kingaroy office to fly the Aboriginal flag.
Cr Duff said flying the flag would demonstrate recognition of Australia’s First Nation peoples, and help promote a sense of community partnership and a commitment towards Reconciliation.
A flag-raising ceremony will be held during this year’s Reconciliation Week celebrations (May 27-June 3).
Cr Duff said the tentative date for the ceremony was Wednesday, May 29, but this was yet to be confirmed.
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The First 5 Forever program is having a positive impact on Kingaroy children, Cr Danita Potter told Wednesday’s meeting.
Recent statistics released by the Australia Early Development Census showed the Kingaroy area had statistically significant decreases in children classed as “vulnerable” in three of five learning and development “domains”.
There were also statistically significant increases in children classed as “on track” in four out of five categories.
First 5 Forever aims to encourage the growth and development of learning abilities in pre-school children through talk, playing, singing and reading.
The First 5 Forever Rhyme Time and Story Time programs run at South Burnett Regional Council libraries each week, and are free for parents and children to attend.
- External link: First5Forever
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Discounted dog and cat desexing will be available in the South Burnett between June 1 and August 31 this year.
Communities Portfolio chair Cr Danita Potter said Council would be supporting the RSPCA’s desexing initiative, “Operation Wanted”, again this year.
The program offers dog and cat owners a 20 per cent discount on normal desexing prices through participating vets.
As an extra incentive, owners of desexed dogs in town areas can register their dogs for $60 per year (or $30 if the dog is also microchipped), a substantial discount on the $155 annual fee that applies to entire, unmicrochipped dogs.
Participating local vets can be found on the Operation Wanted website.
Pawnote: All Queensland dogs born after April 10, 2009, have to be microchipped by State law; and all “regulated” dogs have to be microchipped, regardless of when they were born.
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The State Government’s new $75-per-tonne Waste Levy will be introduced on July 1.
Council’s Waste Services staff will start visiting Wondai and Murgon businesses next week to provide information about it.
From June 17, there will be significant changes at both the Murgon and Wondai Waste Transfer Stations which will see both sites supervised, as well as changes to each Transfer Station’s operating hours.
By law, Council will also have to collect fees to adhere to Waste Levy obligations.
- Related article: Transfer Station Hours To Change
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Malfunctioning traffic counters on the South Burnett Rail Trail will be replaced.
Natural Resources portfolio chair Cr Kathy Duff said Council staff have exhausted all avenues with the machines’ manufacturer to resolve ongoing problems with unreliability and malfunctions.
The problems began just a few months after the counters were installed in October 2017 to measure Rail Trail usage.
To remedy this, new counters have been ordered from EvolvePlus, a Victorian firm that specialises in people-traffic counters.
Cr Duff said the new wireless machines were reliable, affordable and user-friendly; data was simple to collect via USB; and this data could be analysed or graphed on a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis.
The new counters will be installed at Crawford and Wondai to replace the former counters in the near future.
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A single consultant will be engaged to analyse the water needs of the South and North Burnett, and their engagement will be mananged by the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (DNRME).
As the consultant’s work progresses, both Councils will lead community engagement forums to look at the consultant’s findings and consider the next step.
Mayor Keith Campbell told southburnett.com.au the $2 million consultancy, which is being funded by a Federal Government grant through the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund, will look at all aspects of water supply and delivery in both regions.
Since delivering outcomes from the analysis – such as dams or pipelines – will probably require investment by the State and Federal Governments, both Councils felt DNRME was best placed to secure a consultant with proven expertise in the subject, then oversee their work.
Mayor Campbell said he believed the economy of both regions could be significantly expanded if sufficient water could be supplied to allow more farmers to move into irrigated agriculture.
A call for tenders will be made in the near future.
