Hervey Bay Gossip

And the bad news just keeps on coming for Hervey Bay this week.

An administrator has been appointed to control the affairs of the well-known tourist operator – the Fraser Island Company – and hopefully find a buyer. It’s been reported elsewhere that the Fraser Island Company owes creditors over $3 million dollars and those creditors include the Australian Tax Office and the Fraser Coast Regional Council.

Undoubtedly there will be some much smaller local creditors in the mix too and that will further damage the local economy.

The administrator is confident that a buyer will be found for the business but with so many Fraser Island tourists being lost to Rainbow Beach you would have to wonder whether that confidence will be rewarded.

The green 4WD buses of Fraser Island Company were once a common sight around town but I haven’t seen one around for some time and now that looks as though it was a sign of what was to come.

It was almost inevitable in the current economic climate so we should not be surprised by the announcement yesterday that the State Government was putting aside the plans to redevelop the Urangan Boat Harour.

The development, which was to add new marina berths, extra dry storage spaces and a number of new boat ramps, would have employed over 650 people during it’s construction stage.

Unfortunately none of that work will go ahead and the decision leaves one of developers … the Seymour Group … in a rather unenviable situation. They already own much of the marina which is said to be running at a loss and they have also spent 30 million dollars buying up leases that they needed to control for the development to go ahead.

The State government is said to remain committed to upgrading recreational boating facilities at the harbour and the Minister claims that a new pontoon is in the planning stages but when … or if … that will be built is open to conjecture.

And so Hervey Bay struggles on. We might have the resolve to make this town a great place to visit and there are lots of small operators doing all they can to make that happen but I doubt that individuals … or even small groups of like-minded individuals … have the financial resources or the resolve that it will take to drag us out of the malaise that we seem to be sinking into.

Here in Hervey Bay we’re beginning to slip into that quiet period between the end of the whale-watching season and the start of the Christmas Holidays. So it was good to see that there were plenty of visitors and plenty of locals out enjoying the beautiful spring weather yesterday.

If you managed to find a parking spot on the Esplanade in Torquay yesterday then you were definitely one of the lucky ones because they were few and far between.

At 10.30 yesterday it seemed to be even busier down at Scarness where people were standing around waiting for a table at Enzo’s on the Beach and the cafes were a big attraction for people all along the Esplanade.

And the whales haven’t gone yet. On Saturday Freedom III reported that there were plenty of whales and calves out in the bay so it’s still worth going out to have a look at those awesome creatures.

Signature Uniforms is having a Driveway Sale at the back of their shop at 9/17 Liuzzi Street Pialba tomorrow – Saturday – from 8am to 2pm.

There’s up to 70% off selected schoolwear, corporate wear, hi-vis workwear and more.

Cash or eftpos only – no orders, laybys or rainchecks.

Get there early because this is going to be huge!

That’s the lesson that the Fraser Coast Regional Council seems to want to teach the people of Hervey Bay, Maryborough and the rest of the Fraser Coast local council area.

When times are tough the support of the locals is often critical to the survival of local businesses but it seems that businesses in this local council area should never expect to get the support they need from Fraser Coast Regional Council.

With the Maryborough swimming pool contract being awarded to a Brisbane-based firm we again see the council going outside the local area for work that needs to be done. I guess we shouldn’t have expected anything better from a council that seems to have little loyalty to the local area. And the swimming pool contract joins the growing list of jobs that could have easily been handled by locals but were never given the chance to deliver a local solution.

Of course there are always excuses but the deputy mayor can appear on TV and talk till she’s blue in the face … giving contracts to outside businesses who MAY employ local people is not the same as giving contracts to qualified businesses that are owned and operated by locals who employ locals to get the job done at competitive (or even better than competitive) prices than outsiders can offer.

There’s no doubt that times are tough for small businesses in Hervey Bay and we’re more likely to see closures than openings. So it’s pleasing to be able to report that a new business is opening in Hervey Bay today.

SalonShop is a wholesale and retail hair and beauty supplier and they’re opening their doors at Unit 8 17 Liuzzi Street in Pialba. The business already has outlets in Maroochydore and Bundaberg and sees Hervey Bay as a market that’s definitely worth tapping into.

The new business will be open 9 to 5 Monday to Friday and 9 to 12 on Saturday.