October 16, 2020
South Burnett Regional Council will buy a building in Kingaroy’s CBD so it can create an access lane between the Glendon Street car park and Kingaroy Street.
At Council’s October meeting on Wednesday, Councillors voted 6-nil to instruct CEO Mark Pitt to enter negotiations for the purchase of a building at 195 Kingaroy Street, which is currently on the market.
Mayor Brett Otto declared a conflict of interest and left while the issue was discussed and voted on.
The Mayor said because he owned a business in Kingaroy’s CBD he felt there might be a real or perceived conflict of interest, so the proper course of action was to absent himself.
Mayor Otto said it was his intention to do the same in future whenever any matter involving the Kingaroy Transformation Project was debated by Council.
The idea of creating a public laneway between the Glendon Street car park and Kingaroy Street was first raised by former Mayor Keith Campbell several years ago.
However, the plan wasn’t enacted because no appropriate CBD properties were on the market at that time.
The building the Council aims to buy currently houses Lifeline’s furniture store and Discount Pharmacy Warehouse.
A third shop – formerly used by Trendsetter Boutique – sits vacant.
It is believed Council’s intention is to maintain the two tenanted shops, but demolish or renovate the empty one to create a connecting laneway between Glendon and Kingaroy streets.
Whether the Council will retain the building’s existing awning, roofing and facade has yet to be decided.
Mayor Otto told southburnett.com.au the property was attractive because a new laneway would front the existing pedestrian crossing.
The crossing, in turn, connects with a second laneway which links Kingaroy Street to the Alford Street car park.
Council believed opening up the Glendon Street car park to Kingaroy Street would encourage more pedestrian traffic into the CBD area.
The new pedestrian link would also open up possibilities for community events such as Kingaroy’s Christmas Carnival or BaconFest to make use of a wider portion of the CBD.
