March 18, 2026
A councillor has queried the $2.7 million spent by the South Burnett Regional Council outside the region in February.
Cr Heath Sander told Wednesday’s meeting he had “186 questions” about the expenditure and wanted to go through the amounts “line by line”.
“We have to really tighten down on any of those spends and be a ‘back-to-basics’ Council and only spend what we need to, to keep any rate increase at a minimum or nil if we can for the residents,” Cr Sander said.
There was a discussion about whether a workshop should be held with councillors and staff to go through the expenditure.
Acting CEO Aaron Meehan asked Cr Sander to send through his 186 queries so staff could provide responses at a future workshop.
Cr Sander he wanted to make sure the public realised that councillors “did scrutinise” what was happening.
“We try to save money where we can; we’re watching everything that happens,” he said.
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At the end February, outstanding rates were at 3.12 per cent, below the SBRC’s target of 7 per cent; and about 37 per cent of those properties with outstanding rates were currently on payment plans.
Current rate notices are due on April 1.
Deputy Mayor Ros Heit reminded ratepayers to take advantage of the 10 per cent discount on rates for payments before the due date.
Mayor Kathy Duff said many councils had removed the discount period.
Cr Danita Potter urged people who were having difficulty paying their rates to contact Council as soon as possible to arrange a payment plan.
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Cr Linda Little said she was concerned about the $186,000 overdue for dog registrations.
“But we are only actively pursuing $68,000 of that at the moment,” she said.
The meeting was told the $186,000 owed covered the current financial year and the two previous financial years.
Reminder notices have just been sent out.
The next step would be an inspection program to see if the person was still living at the address, and if the dog was still there.
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Council unanimously endorsed the renewal of the lease of Fred Kassulke Oval and adjoining land to the Nanango Rugby League Football Club Inc for 10 years.
Cr Jane Erkens said the new lease would assist the club in future grant applications.
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Council has voted to install new playground equipment – a mouse wheel – at Memerambi, beside the South Burnett Rail Trail.
The project is being funded under the Works for Queensland (W4Q) Round 5 grants program with supplementary funding from Council’s 2026-27 capital and general operations program.
Council will also apply to the State Government’s “Games On” program for a grant to build shade structures over several local playgrounds.
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Council will ask the Department of Transport and Main Roads to amend its “Principal Cycle Network Plan” to remove several dangerous roads for cyclists, including the Bunya and D’Aguilar highways.
It has also proposed that the South Burnett Rail Trail and Brisbane Valley Rail Trail be added, as well as tourism link routes and loops which have been promoted and mapped by the South Burnett Rail Trail Users Association.
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Councillors have voted to remove surface rubbish from a portion of a former landfill site on Kingaroy-Burrandowan Road, near Kingaroy, to prepare it for rehabilitation as koala habitat.
The SBRC will also seek expressions of interest from incorporated community groups to maintain and rehabilitate the area.
The block in question is close to land legally cleared by a private owner last year, an action which angered local residents.
