Hervey Bay Gossip

From September 1 legislation will come into force that will require local councils - including Hervey Bay City Council to provide access to building records to see if proper approvals have have been obtained for work done on their property or that of neighbours.

Local Government and Planning Minister Desley Boyle said people who were looking to buy a house or who were adversely affected by their neighbour’s building work often had difficult in finding out whether the right approvals were in place.

“People have complained, for example that their neighbour’s extension looks right into their bedroom or a new shed built right against the fence blocks the sunlight.

“Up until now, local governments have had the discretion to decide who could and could not access building approval and inspection documents.

“This has led to different councils allowing different levels of access, which has caused problems for people trying to prove their neighbour’s shed or extensions shouldn’t be there.

“From September 1, councils will be required to allow people to inspect building approval documents, subject to privacy and security restrictions. Councils will be able to charge a fee equal to the cost of providing this service.”

It’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we live in an urban environment here in Hervey Bay - and to some extent we do.

However, it may not be quite as urban as we think it is. This morning three kangaroos were calmly munching on the grass not 300 metres from Hervey Bay Post Office.

One of the two candidates standing for the seat of Hervey Bay just happens to be councillor on the Hervey Bay City Council.

Section 224A of the Local Government Act 1993 states: “A councillor ceases to be a councillor on becoming a candidate for the Legislative Assembly.”

Yet our candidate is reported to be refusing to resign from the local council.

You can read the full story here.

Actually the stand by that particular councillor seems rather futile because the Queensland Electoral Commission automatically vacates the position once it processes the nomination for the State seat.

Political commentators have already identified Hervey Bay as one of the seats that the Labor Party is likely to lose on September 9 so I guess that it’s no wonder that the leaders of both parties started the first day on the campaign right here.

With a swing of just 4% needed to unseat Mr McNamara I’m sure he is now wondering what he will be doing on September 10.

I guess that just highlights the poor choices we have here in Hervey Bay. On the one hand we have a local member who hasn’t appeared to do a great deal for Hervey Bay - his position on those damn bats is perhaps indicitive of that.

On the other hand we have a candidate for a party led by a man who thinks that fish will become female if humans drink recycled water and quotes Google as his source of information.

If you were running a business and had to job applicants come in with resumes like that which one would you employ?

As reported in the Gossip several days ago QantasLink will soon commence services from Brisbane to Hervey Bay. Subject to regulatory approval QantasLink will commence services on October 29 with a schedule that provides for 32 flights to Brisbane each week.

The route will be serviced by Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft that can seat up to 36 passengers. That means that over 56000 additional seats will be available each year.

On the surface that may sound like great news for people who need to fly from Hervey Bay to Brisbane but, as our Federal local member pointed out yesterday, Hervey Bay has already been a Qantas destination on two previous occasions.

And on each of those occasions Qantas has subsequently withdrawn the service.

It seems that Qantas may be been trying to take advantage of the difficulties that Sunshine Express found itself in. Perhaps now that Rex has moved to take over Sunshine Express we might see QantasLink withdraw for a third time.

The Bombardier Q200 - the plane that QantasLink will be using on the Hervey Bay Route

Update: My thanks to Jacob for pointing out that the top image is a photo of the Bombardier Q400 - the aircraft QantasLink uses on the Gladstone, Rockhampton and Mackay services. The Q200 is the plane that will fly the Hervey Bay route and I’ve now added the right image.

If you’ve been wondering what has happened to your Hervey Bay City Council rates notice the Gossip has it on good authority that a staffing problem has delayed them and the rates notices will be despatched shortly.

Well if you’re the CEO of property group Lend Lease you certainly think that it’s going down. In fact, it’s probably going down a whole lot faster than most people would like.

The head of Lend Lease was quoted today as describing the housing market as being in distress and suggested that the market in New South Wales was probably the worst affected.

Here in Hervey Bay there are still ‘Sold’ signs appearing on but it does seem that the prices have dropped.

Work finally began yesterday on removing the crane at the Peppers resort. The crane has dominated the Urangan and Hervey Bay skyline for quite some time and the removal has aroused considerable interest.

Even before the sun was fully up this morning residents were down at the site watching - and even filming - the work.

Removal of the crane has meant that The Esplanade is completely closed to traffic from Elizabeth Street down to the Urangan shops.

Well you don’t exactly have to rush out and have a look right now but you’ll soon be seeing another airline flying over Hervey Bay.

QantasLink - the regional arm of Qantas - is planning on introducing services between Hervey Bay and Brisbane.

At the same time Sunshine Express - the not so loved regional carrier that connects Hervey Bay with Brisbane - could be about to be bought out by Regional Express Airlines (Rex).

Sunshine Express has been experiencing difficulties lately and one of it’s newer Metro 23 planes has had to be taken out of service permanently due to damage that occurred during recent maintenance.

The Premier of Queensland has called a general election for September 9. Here in Hervey Bay that means that voters will have a choice between Labor and the Nationals.

So for the next few weeks it’s another round of election madness. Undoubtedly health and water will be the major election issues although the latest surgeon problem should not really affect the outcome.

That doctor was originally registered in New South Wales and there has been a long-standing agreement between states that when a doctor moves across the border to a new state then his or her registration moves too.