Hervey Bay Gossip

… but not to our taps just yet.

The Queensland Government has approved more than $21.9 million to further develop major water infrastructure projects that will have significant community and environmental benefits for the Hervey Bay region.

Local Government Minister Warren Pitt said the funding for three important projects would ensure the future sustainability of water resources in Hervey Bay.

Member for Hervey Bay and Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation Andrew McNamara welcomed the announcement, which will provide:
• more than $16.5 million for the Eli South waste water treatment plant
• $3.3 million for the Vanderwolf Road farm recycled water scheme
• $2.1 million for the Dreamtime Avenue farm recycled water scheme.

“Hervey Bay has experienced significant population growth in the past two decades and with this, the council has faced a host of challenges including how to deal with waste and waste water,” Mr McNamara said.

“The council, working with Wide Bay Water Corporation, has implemented innovative waste water projects that enable up to 100 per cent of the city’s effluent to be re-used on farms.

“The announcement of these key projects is great news for the community and will significantly reduce the volume of waste water being discharged to the environment.”

Mr Pitt said funding for the new Eli South Waste Water Treatment Plant would produce an improved quality of waste water.

“This project will not only allow water to be re-used, but will also take some of the strain off the existing Eli Creek waste water treatment plant,” he said.

“A new bioreactor treatment plant will be built and it will be capable of removing bacteria from waste water, resulting in better quality waste water.”

Mr Pitt said the Vanderwolf Road farm recycled water scheme included the purchase of about 135 hectares of land suitable for establishing a hardwood plantation.

“The project also includes construction of a main pipeline to the farm from the existing re-use main at Booral Road, and the construction of a 500-megalitre onsite storage dam,” he said.

“The areas unsuitable for hardwood plantation will be used to trial a wetlands area to improve irrigation water quality.”

Mr Pitt said the Dreamtime Avenue farm recycled water scheme would manage effluent from the Burrum Heads area.

“The Dreamtime Avenue farm is suitable for growing crops and there are a number of tree species that can be grown to manage effluent extracted by the Burrum Heads waste water treatment plant,” he said.

“This project consists of the purchase of a 175-hectare farm, a 50-megalitre storage facility, a pumping station, a new waste water pipeline from the existing Burrum Heads waste water treatment plant and the development of a hardwood plantation.

“Eighty hectares of woodland will be planted, and the direct management of re-use on the trees means it will be more reliable and sustainable.”

Mr McNamara said these projects would help eliminate the need for ocean discharge and would protect the bay’s marine environment.

“Hervey Bay has many magnificent natural resources but, unfortunately, an abundant water supply is not one of them,” he said.

“These projects represent a significant investment in water resource management in Hervey Bay, and are an excellent example of the government and local council working together.”

Mr Pitt said the Queensland Government provided 40 to 50 per cent of the funding for these projects under the Water and Sewerage Program, with the council providing the rest of the costs.

“This program provides funding for water and sewerage infrastructure projects that encourage the re-use of waste water and reduce discharge into the waterways.”

Don’t you just love election time? That’s the time when politicians can an increase in interest rates into a sigh of good government - when increasing costs mean we have less money for the essentials of life and yet Australian families have never had it so good - when being flexible with employment and business means the destruction of the Australian way of life.

Yep - spin … you’ve just gotta laugh or otherwise you would have to cry at the way this great country is going to the dogs!

And have you noticed that spin is the first line of defence for more than just politicians these days?

The New York Times recently reported on two clinical trials of a new drug that went horribly wrong. A drug that was supposed to improve good cholesterol levels seemed to have a rather negative effect - 93 patients in the trial group died as opposed to 59 in the placebo group. So how could you spin something like that?

“The two trials together seem to tell us that (the drug) had an off-target effect”

The spin? Death = ‘off-target’.

Now if you would like to engage in some spin to cover up your mistakes - perhaps something that the Hervey Bay City Council needs to consider - then here is a link just for you.

Should the Hervey Bay Council be involved in the commercial world of business? It past performances are anything to go on then perhaps we the ratepayers would be better served if Hervey Bay City Council stuck to the business of trying to run Hervey Bay.

Strewth takes an interesting look at three attempts our Council has made to make money from business. You’ll find the story at “There’s No Business Like No Business“

Here is some good news for those of us in Hervey Bay who think that the last people who should set their own rates of pay are our local councillors.

The Queensland Government has established an independent body to determine salaries for mayors and councillors in all local government areas across the state.

Local Government Minister Warren Pitt said the new three-member Local Government Remuneration Tribunal would finalise its first determinations by 1 December.

“The establishment of the Local Government Remuneration Tribunal is the next step in the Queensland Government’s local government reform program,” Mr Pitt said.

“Queensland’s new local government sector will be founded on independent boundaries, independently run local elections and, now, an independent tribunal that sets salaries.”

Mr Pitt said panel members were chosen based on their extensive knowledge and experience in local government, public administration, law, finance, industrial relations and community affairs.

(more…)

Local Government elections here in Hervey Bay next March should definitely be interesting. If you’ve been reading Strewth lately and think that you could do a better job than our current crop of local representatives then the Minister for Main Roads and Local Government has something that might interest you.

There won’t be auditions, but the call has gone out for talented, community-minded Queenslanders to consider standing for their local council at the local government elections next March.

Local Government Minister Warren Pitt today announced the start of a Statewide ‘How to become a councillor’ seminar series promoting election to local government as a career choice.

Mr Pitt said with a little over five months until the next council elections he expected the Government’s high profile local government reform program would ensure the 2008 council elections were keenly contested.

“There is no doubt local government reform will change the face of local government in Queensland and it has placed the sector well and truly in the spotlight.

“Next March, Queenslanders will vote in 73 local government areas. Of these 73 councils, 38 are existing councils, 31 are new councils and four are existing councils with changed boundaries.

“In those 73 local government areas, people will be voting to elect 73 Mayors and 480 councillors, to represent them and take their council forward into the future.

“There is a large pool of existing councillors, many of whom no doubt will put themselves forward as candidates for election.

“Potentially there could be an even larger pool of members of the public who also believe they can make a contribution to their council and their community, and be part of building a new, stronger system of local government.

“There is certainly nothing wrong with vigorously contested elections. As a rule, the best representation is achieved by voters selecting from the best available field of candidates,” Mr Pitt said.

Mr Pitt said the Department of Local Government would conduct 17 ‘How to become a councillor’ seminars around the State, starting on Tuesday 9 October 2007.

(more…)

That’s an interesting question and one that Strewth is dealing with on three levels today. Rather than post links to each of the three posts I’m feeling a bit tired after a hard day’s work so just follow this link to Strewth and read the top posts for October 2.

Those posts raise some interesting points and ask some difficult questions … none of which will probably ever get answered.

It’s interesting to see how some people perceive the local government mergers that are about to take place here in Queensland.

In an article entitled ‘Mergers introduce margins of error’ in today’s Australian Greg Roberts suggested that here on the Fraser Coast Hervey Bay “would be swallowed up by Maryborough”. I’m not sure that’s how the people of Maryborough see this merger.

But then if you read the article you might see it’s not entirely clear that the author has all his facts straight he refers to Hervey Bay as a shire … perhaps that’s why our council is called the Hervey Bay City Council.

The report of the Local Government Reform Comission has now been released and, as expected, Hervey Bay will be affected by changes that the Commission has recommended.

The report recommends that Hervey Bay be included in the Fraser Coast Regional Council. This council will include all parts of the current Hervey Bay City Council, the Maryborough City Council, Woocoo Shire and Divisions 1 and 2 of Tiaro Shire.

The Commission has recommended that the new council be an undivided regional council with 10 Councillors plus the Mayor. An undivided regional council is one where there are no wards and Councillors are elected on the basis of votes cast throughout the entire council area.

While the findings of the Commission may not sit well with some of the Councils - particularly Maryborough who would rather walk across hot coals than be included with Hervey Bay - the findings were what local businesses in both centres had hoped would happen.

The Premier has announced that Local Government Reform Commission’s report will be released on Friday. There will be a detailed briefing for Mayors, other stakeholders and the media on Friday morning and the report will be released to the public at midday.

Mayor of Hervey Bay, Ted Sorenson, has announced the city’s budget for the next 12 months.

Major projects include upgrades to roads, the Urangan Pier and the Hervey Bay airport. The council will be raising rates by 4.5% to cover these new expenses.