Hervey Bay Gossip

And what’s good for Maryborough is also good for Hervey Bay

Queensland Minister for State Development John Mickel today announced the Hong Kong-based Flight Training Group’s (FTG) decision to establish a professional airline pilot training facility in Maryborough, Queensland.

“FTG is a subsidiary of Young Brothers Aviation - a global aviation company with aviation interests in Europe, USA and Asia and long-term relationships with airlines such as Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, China Airlines, Emirates, JAL Express, Vietnam Airlines and Air China - Zhejiang Company,” Mr Mickel said.

“FTG owns an airline pilot training college in Adelaide which it has been successfully operating since 1982 and the group plans to duplicate its operations in Queensland in the heart of what is becoming a major regional aviation hub for the State.”

Mr Mickel said the company would develop a major complex to be known as “Flight Training Queensland” in Maryborough, two and a half hours drive north of the State’s capital Brisbane, negotiations with the local airport operator, the Maryborough City Council are to be finalised.

“This ‘greenfield’ development will employ modern design principles to create an integrated campus incorporating operational buildings such as a hangar, classrooms, simulator section and flight operations with residential accommodation, dining and recreational facilities to cater for up to 200 students at any one time,” he said.

“It will incorporate the latest technologies and training methods developed by FTG over a period of some 25 years in the industry.

“When fully operational the facility will employ more than 100 staff, be home to approximately 40 training aircraft and fly more than 38,000 training hours per year, making use of facilities at both Maryborough and Hervey Bay airports.”

Mr Mickel said the development would bring significant economic benefits to the region, with a wages bill in the order of $7 million and a turnover of approximately $22 million a year.

“Such a facility has the potential to attract young, highly skilled individuals and families to the region, which will mean opportunities for business development and expansion, and growth in sectors such as housing, education and social and recreational services,” he said.

“Flight Training Queensland will also help to establish the Wide Bay Burnett region as a significant global aviation player.

“Wide Bay Burnett already boasts significant aviation infrastructure and expertise with four major regional airports, new industrial estates with air side access and companies like Jabiru and Seabird Aviation.

“Jabiru is Australia’s largest manufacturer of sports aircraft and Seabird Aviation is the name behind the unique Seeker airborne surveillance craft.

“And Kingaroy is already internationally known for its developing unmanned aerial vehicle testing facility (Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation).”

Mr Mickel said aviation was a global growth industry - with forecasts indicating international passenger travel growing by 5% annually and by at least 9% in the developing Chinese market.

“The Asia-Pacific region alone is estimated to require at least 5,000 airline pilots a year over the next 20 years to meet this growth and Queensland will now be well placed to attract an important share of that market,” he said.

While we’ve heard a lot about the impact that the building of the Traveston Crossing Dam will have on people around the region not a great deal has been said about the impact on the environment.

I guess that’s only to be expected. People can make a lot of noise while the environment makes none - it just suffers in silence. But that doesn’t mean that the environment won’t be affected because it will.

In fact it looks as though the building of the dam will destroy the habitat of one very ancient and very unusual fish. You might not think that the fate of one endangered fish species is of much concern when there is a need for Brisbane to be kept in a regular supply of drinking water but when there are alternatives to the dam then perhaps we should be thinking more seriously about the Queensland lungfish.

Andrew Bartlett wrote a very interesting piece in his blog about why this fish is important and it’s well worth reading. You will find it here.

Of course the environment isn’t just the Queensland lungfish. If the dam is built there will be a major impact on Great Sandy Straights and that will impact on us here in Hervey Bay. Mr Beattie is trying to tell us that there won’t be an impact that we will feel … but I wonder what he’ll say when irreversible problems do arise?

Oh … that’s right, he will probably have retired by then and there’s no accountability for retired politicians - just a lot of lurks and perks that the rest of us can’t enjoy.

Like the Queensland lungfish the Great Sandy Straights doesn’t have a voice of its own but some people are trying to remedy that and ourgreatsandy.com is telling the world about the damage that the dam will bring.

Are you interested in whale research in Hervey Bay? If you are then perhaps you can join an intern programme being run by the Oceania Organization of Australia.

This year they’re running their 18th Whale Research Expedition in Hervey Bay from August to October and they’re offering internships to interested people. You can find out more here at the Dancing Dolphin Journal

And yes, this is relevant to Hervey Bay.

Fair Trading Minister Margaret Keech today called on Queenslanders to get involved in the review of the Manufactured Homes (Residential Parks) Act 2003.

The review is designed to ensure the Act is meeting the needs and expectations of manufactured home owners, park owners and the community.

“The Manufactured Homes Act has been crucial in clarifying park and home owner’s rights and responsibilities,” Mrs Keech said.

“It introduced written site agreements, ensured home owners are given upfront information and improved processes to resolve disputes.

“When I launched the Manufactured Homes Act, I gave a commitment to review the legislation.

“The Beattie Government is now meeting that commitment.

“We want to make sure these laws properly protect the more than 10,000 Queenslanders living in residential parks , now and into the future.

“This legislation protects the rights of some of these more vulnerable residents.

“A large proportion of manufactured home owners are retirees or pensioners on fixed incomes who are seeking secure housing.

“Residential park home owners often choose this lifestyle to maintain their independence and to be part of the community. It is very important we protect these foundations.

“I invite all Queenslanders to have their say and help ensure a fair marketplace for all in this industry.”

The survey can be completed online at www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au or www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au. You can request a printed survey by phoning 13 13 04 or visiting a Department of Tourism, Fair Trading and Wine Industry Development office in your area.

To be included on the stakeholder distribution list, simply enter your contact details on the website at www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au or write to the Manufactured Homes (Residential Parks) Act 2003 Review at PO Box 3111 Brisbane 4001.

Mrs Keech said a report of the review would be tabled in Parliament after careful analysis of the submissions.

Yesterday she who must be obeyed decreed that we might spend some time looking at furniture … and so it came to pass.

But we didn’t just look at furniture stores in Hervey Bay … oh no … we took the short drive out to Torbanlea and discovered Widebay Import Clearance Warehouse in Robertson Street.

Seriously though, I have to tell you that if you’re looking for good quality furniture in Hervey Bay then take the drive out to Torbanlea - it is definitely well worth the trip and the savings that the guys out at Widebay Import Clearance Warehouse will surprise you.

Oh, I’m now told that we’re going back on the weekend because they’re expecting around 2000 imported garden pots to be delivered some time today and the boss has been told to expect big savings there as well.

I did hear that the last time Widebay Import Cleartance Warehouse got a delivery customers were parked in the street waiting for the container to be unloaded.

If you’re thinking of taking a drive out there just look for the signs - you can’t miss it (although we did on the first trip round the block:) )

The State Government has moved to outlaw the sinking of private bores in parts of Brisbane and Toowoomba from today. Bores that have already been sunk in those areas and are in use may be regulated by imposing level 5 restrictions on their owners.

You can read the full story here

I’ve just finished writing a small piece for another website on web design for small business and my partner suggested that I should post it here too. We’ve been involved in web design since 1996 and still operate a web design business here in Hervey Bay that specialises in work for small business. You can find us at Copy Text Online.

So here are five tips that we would give anyone who is looking to have a web site developed by a professional web designer. There are plenty of other things we could suggest but here are five fundamentals.

1. If he wants you to agree to a splash page full of Flash run away as fast as you can. Splash pages are so last year. Besides splash pages are slow to load, annoy the crap out of prospective clients, do nothing for search  optimisation and cost lots of money.

2. If he wants to include music run away almost as quickly as you would in point 1. Occasionally there is a good reason to have music on a web page but it’s rare and should never be played over and over again.

3. Ask your designer if he sees all surfers arriving at your site via the index page or arriving on your site via any of the pages on your site. If he tries to tell you that all your visitors will arrive via the index page find a new designer immediately. The one you’re talking to believes the earth is flat.

4. Ask you’re designer what he plans to do about search engine optimisation. If he tells you that it’s all about getting links or the only way to get traffic is by pay-per-click then you’re talking to another guy who believes the world is flat.

5. If your designer is going to arrange the purchase of your domain name make sure that it is registered in you’re name. Some designers will want to register it in their name and that means they have complete control over it. You might find that they never give it back to you.

Update 8am:

I originally posted this piece at 6.21 this morning before we went out for breakfast. Now I’ve seen the lurid headlines on today’s Chronicle about the same topic I just have to laugh. Today must be a very slow news day.

Back in April the Gossip ran a short piece about the barge moored out in the bay off Torquay Beach.

In that piece it was suggested that it might be destined for the artificial reef but that now seems to be unlikely. The barge is definitely still moored out there and it doesn’t look like going away any time soon.

The Yagubi festival here in Hervey Bay is over for another year. Was it a major success? You’ll find an interesting point of view … along with a few photos to back up the author’s point of view … right here

If you woke up yesterday and thought you could smell smoke then you were absolutely right. Several fires had been burning out to the north west and the smoke had been trapped over Hervey Bay for most of the night.

Fortunately an off-shore breeze blew most of it away although at 7.30 there was still quite a pall of smoke hanging over Point Vernon.

Then this morning parts of Hervey Bay were shrouded in mist although that dissapated quite quickly too.