Hervey Bay Gossip

If you don’t get down that way very often then let me show you the changing face of Urangan. The image of a sleepy little fishing village known mostly for it’s pier is changing as these photos will show.

The change may not be to everyone’s liking but it certainly is happening.

Here is a photo taken from the pier in May this year.

and a similar view taken today

Hervey Bay City Council is holding a community consultation meeting on Monday, October 31 at the Community Centre, Elizabeth Street, Urangan. The meeting will discuss Natural Area Foreshore Enhancement projects for 2005 - 2006 in the Urangan area.

The area under discussion is west of approximately 591 The Esplanade, past the Reefworld Aquarieam to the Great Sandy Straights Marina.

Input from the community is seen as vital because you may be able to help compile wildlife lists for the site, share historical information and raise relevant concerns or identify community needs.

The meeting times on Monday are 7pm to 9pm.

Earlier this week the Gossip reported on the work the Hervey Bay Council is carrying out to beautify the Urangan Pier Precinct.

Anyone who has lived here for more than just a few days will have seen the Urangan Pier stretching out into the bay, as it has done so for many many years. Originally built to provide a link between the district’s produce and the deep water that freighters needed that came to take that produce overseas the Pier is now a great spot for tourists and locals alike.

For the locals it’s a great place to fish and you will seldom see the end of the pier devoid of fishermen. For tourists its a chance to see the area from a totally different perspective as well as a chance to see first hand what is really an amazing engineering feat.

Even if you’re not a tourist or a fisherman the Pier is a great place to wander and enjoy the sunshine. A walk along the pier can get you up close and personal with the pelicans, you can see the fish swimming under the pier and you too can see Hervey Bay from a different perspective.

If walking the full-length of the Pier seems a little daunting there are seats provided at about the half-way point. It really is an interesting spot and one that you should not miss.

The Hervey Bay City Council has begun work on Stage 1 of the upgrading of the Urangan Pier Precinct. The Council describes it as a major project that will include:

Upgrading the walk and cycle path

Traffic calming

Streetscaping including the provision of underground power so that overhead wires can be removed

Upgradeing of the blay area, BBQ facilities and toilet in Pier Park

Provision of accessible observation decks

And other work as well

Now that is a very worthwhile project but why can’t they describe it in normal language that the man in the street might understand?

What is traffic calming?

If they want to keep the traffic calm all they would have to do is remove those traffic controllers who are there for the building projects and then the traffic would be very calm.

If you missed it here is a little story from two weeks ago about two traffic controllers down there who were caught totally unprepared.

Well that’s not really their name but a title like that is good for the search engines

The real name for the gardens is the Great Sandy Region Botanical Garden - Hervey Bay. If you haven’t been there yet you really should take the time to spend an hour or two wandering along the pathways and enjoying the peace and beauty of the place.

You’ll find the gardens in Elizabeth Street Urangan and we can recommend the place. It really can be described as tranquil at just about any time of the day but we love it first thing in the morning.

There are well set out pathways to take you through the gardens and there are plenty of places to stop and enjoy the plant life and the bird life too.

Every town in Australia is rich in history and it’s not dry, dull and boring. It’s about people and the lives they lived; their dreams and desires, their passion, courage and fortitude and so much of it is slipping away. It’s fading and all that is left are old photographs and other memorabilia.

This area that we live in is no different to any other. It too has it’s history and a lot of that history is still to be discovered. Right now it’s hidden away in old boxes and envelopes, tins stuck in the backs of cupboards, bundles dropped down behind old drawers and it’s valuable because it talks of the people who came before and set the foundations of what we have today.

The local ABC radio station has been delving into that history thanks to someone finding a packet of old photos during a house renovation. You can see an old photo of Urangan Pier - I bet a lot of people didn’t realise that there was more to the pier than what we see today.

There’s an old photo of Torquay Beach and another of the Maryborough Hospital Nurses Quarters and others mentioned here that no one can identify. (Links now removed to non-functioning web pages)

Go over and have a look at those photos. See the district as it once was - back in the days before fridges and air conditioning, back in days when there was no city but just a few scattered villages. Look into the eyes of the people who lived, loved and laughed back then and see what they saw.

And when you’ve done that grab your camera and get out and start recording history for future generations. Just like those people from back then, we too have things to show our descendants. But they won’t see it and won’t learn from it unless we take those photos today.

This weekend was just too beautiful to spend shut inside in front of the computer so the siren song of the beach and the bay soon lured us away and this time we wandered down to Urangan.

One one side of the shared path was a view like this:

It’s beautiful and idyllic and undoubtedly one of the reasons why so many people have moved to this great city.

Turning around we’re confronted with this view:

It’s ugly and grubby and even when it’s built it’s not going to improve the streetscape.

So Ted and every other elected representative on the Hervey Bay Council use the comments section of this piece to explain why on God’s green earth Hervey Bay needs a mess like this.

And tell us why you’re giving our heritage away to people who don’t live here.