Hervey Bay Gossip

Buying a small car is often thought of as something reserved for young people.

But these days, as the price of fuel continues to climb, more and more older people are looking at small cars as an alternative to a gas guzzling V6.

If you’re thinking of replacing your current vehicle with something smaller then these figures from Aussie Motoring might interest you. But as Buying a Small Car on Price Alone points out, you get what you pay for and the cheapest car on that list may not necessarily be the best car in the small car class.

Ford Fiesta $13,990

Holden Barina (a rebadged Daewoo Kalos) $12,990

Hyunda Getz $13,990

Kia Rio $14990

Toyota Yaris $14,990

Construction work to install more traffic lights is underway at two intersections in Hervey Bay.

Poles are up at the intersection of Bideford Street and Torquay Tce and at the intersection of Ann Street and Torquay Tce.

I guess those new sets of traffic lights are just one more indication that this town is definitely growing.

As we all know Hervey Bay is home to a number of dolphin pods but you don’t always see them from the shore.

Last night the people along Shelley Beach were treated to the spectacle of a pod swimming up and down close to the shore while a very young dolphin entertained the watchers by leaping high out of the water on several occasions.

Come on all you couch potatoes - come out and enjoy this beautiful place that we live in - why stay glued to the gloom and doom of the television when you could be enjoying a much better and happier show on the beach.

Ah it’s a strange world we live in. Only a few days ago the Health Minister was mournfully telling us that he could do nothing to avert the shortage of doctors at Caboolture Hospital.

Yesterday there was a car accident just outside the hospital and two seriously injured people had to be taken on a 40 minute ride to another hospital for emergency treatment.

Today we have the acting Premier telling us that Caboolture Hospital’s emergency department could re-open within a week.

I wonder how many other rabbits you have hiding in there Ms Acting Premier? How about pulling a few more out of your hat and fixing the problem at Maryborough Hospital too!

Maryborough hospital is the latest hospital to face a shortage of qualified staff to man it’s emergency department.

In an interview on ABC Radio the acting director of the Caboolture emergency department admitted that the department was basically closed until further notice.

Is that something we can expect in Maryborough?

As we have said before, a shortage like this should have been spotted a long time ago. Why has nothing been done to head off the shortage until now? And who knew about this looming crisis and sat on their hands?

The research manager for the Real Estate Institute of Queensland still sees Hervey Bay as a great place to invest in real estate and points to the fact that, in the year ending September 2005 rents increased by 10% to an average of $220.

There is no doubt that rents have increased but there is also no doubt that rental properties in Hervey Bay are standing empty for longer periods of time. Every agent that runs a rental book has plenty of rental properties to choose from.

Back in 2003 when the Hervey Bay Gossip crew moved to town finding a home to rent was difficult but that seems to have changed in the last 12 months and the situation is not getting any better as town house developments spring up in some of the older parts of town.

The Hervey Bay Regional Gallery wants to hear from Fraser Coast motoring buffs who have photographs they would like to display and stories they would like to tell.

The Gallery is inviting local people to submit photographs and stories about the best or most unusual vehicle they have owned in their driving lives.

The photographs will be displayed from Australia Day through to February 18.

For further details you can contact the Gallery on 4197 4210

Petrol prices are on the rise again after international crude oil prices hit a three month of $US64.65 a barrel.

In Brisbane the price of unleaded petrol rose from $1.08 to $1.17 but in other capitals the increase was even more. Sydney and Melbourne prices rose from $1.14 on Wednesday to $1.26 on Friday.

The bad news is that industry analysts expect the price to rise even further.

edit: A list of meeting times and venues for the focus groups can be found here.

Sustainable Home Hervey Bay is a project of the Hervey Bay City Council and members of the community are encouraged to be part of the the project.

The first stage of the project will be a series of focus groups to seek input into the planning and design for a demonstration Sustainable Home to be built in Honiton Street Torquay.

The focus groups will meet in Hervey Bay, Howard and Burrum Heads at the end of January and early February.

For more information about the project you can visit the website here

Howard is soon to have its very own skate park with the official opening set to take place on February 11. The festivities will run from 2pm to 5pm with local bands, skate competitions and a free sausage sizzle.