{"id":172773,"date":"2017-03-16T15:41:58","date_gmt":"2017-03-16T05:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=172773"},"modified":"2020-09-20T17:18:22","modified_gmt":"2020-09-20T07:18:22","slug":"hall-carpark-costs-queried","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/03\/16\/hall-carpark-costs-queried\/","title":{"rendered":"Hall Carpark Costs Queried"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An artist’s concept of how the Blackbutt Memorial Hall would look after it is relocated to Bowman Road; early plans to gradually upgrade the Hall’s infrastructure over five years have been accelerated by the chance to get a 50 per cent State Government subsidy for the project<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Finance Portfolio chair
Cr Ros Heit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

March 16, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

A decision to put $250,000 towards the cost of a bitumen car park for the Blackbutt Memorial Hall led to some harsh words at Wednesday’s South Burnett Regional Council meeting.<\/p>\n

Councillors were asked to support a motion the Council would contribute 50 per cent of the car park’s costs if its application to the State Government’s Building Our Regions grants program was successful.<\/p>\n

The Memorial Hall is currently being moved from its former Coulson Street site to a new home near the Blackbutt Showgrounds so a modern supermarket can be built on the Coulson Street site.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the motion, Cr Ros Heit said she thought a supermarket development in Blackbutt was a good idea.<\/p>\n

“It will provide an economic boost to the area and generate employment in Blackbutt,” Cr Heit said.<\/p>\n

“It will set up a facility which will support further growth (of the town) into the future.”<\/p>\n

Cr Heit said she also thought the Blackbutt Hall’s new location was a good one, and having the developer upgrade the Hall to comply with current standards as part of the relocation project was a good thing, too.<\/p>\n

“However, I have an issue with the cost of $500,000 plus to set up footpaths, a 22-bay carpark and landscaping,” Cr Heit said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Firstly, Blackbutt residents were told there would be no or a very minimal cost to ratepayers to relocate the Hall.<\/p>\n

“$500,000 plus is a lot of money, and I think we are betraying not only Blackbutt’s residents but all South Burnett residents if we spend this sort of money on unnecessary infrastructure.<\/p>\n

“There are nearly 20 halls in the South Burnett, most of which don’t have disability access toilets, are old and desperately in need of maintenance, and certainly don’t have a bitumen line-marked carpark.<\/p>\n

“Secondly, the hall is a valuable community asset that is used for big functions once or twice a year, and smaller functions every couple of months, and I don’t believe this level of usage justifies the need for a bitumen carpark.<\/p>\n

“Council assesses the need to seal roads on the basis of traffic counts, and I think the traffic count for this road would be less than one a day.<\/p>\n

“If we have a spare $500,000 there are plenty of dangerous roads that could be improved with that sort of money which would get a lot more traffic.”<\/p>\n

Cr Heit said she was also concerned Council might be setting a precedent by spending $500,000 to encourage the supermarket development to come to the region.<\/p>\n

“Will every other new business want this sort of money spent to allow them to operate here? Can we afford this?”<\/p>\n

However, Cr Heit said that if the Council can get a 50 per cent subsidy from the State Government, it made the redevelopment a more attractive proposition.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“With reluctance, I will vote for this motion,” Cr Heit said.<\/p>\n

“But if we are unsuccessful in this submission, I will argue that $500,000 for such a low usage hall carpark is gross negligence and a betrayal of our obligation to deliver prudent financial management.”<\/p>\n

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