Hervey Bay Gossip

At 10.52am this morning the Weather Bureau advised that TC Ului has now dropped to a Category 2 Cyclone and may remain at that level till it crosses the coastline.

Tropical Cyclone Ului is now moving southwest at a speed of around 13km/h. The Bureau’s modelling now suggests that the eye of TC Ului will cross the coast between Proserpine and Bowen.

At 10am Ului was listed as a Category 3 Tropical Cyclone and was estimated to be 1140km northeast of Mackay. At that time it was moving south southwest at 6km/h.

The Weather Bureau now expects TC Ului to remain a category 3 Tropical Cyclone and it should begin movin in a southwesterly direction towards the Queensland coast tonight.

Tropical Cyclone Ului is now expected to cross the coast somewhere between Cardwell and Mackay on Sunday morning.

Two new listings have been added to the Hervey Bay Business Directory:

Hervey Bay Marriage Celebrants

and

Hervey Bay Solar Hot Water and Solar Heating Providers

At 10am this morning Tropical Cyclone Ului remained a Category 4 cyclone and it was located approximately 1230km northeast of Mackay.

Ului continues to move south-southwest at 4km and hour and it is expected to continue on that course today and tomorrow.

However on Friday TC Ului is expected to turn west-southwest and begin moving towards the coastline and cross the Central or Capricornia coastline during the weekend however the movement of Ului close to the weekend is uncertain at this stage.

Plans are now in place to evacuate people on Heron and Lady Eliott Islands 

At 4am today Severe Tropical Cyclone Ului was still listed as a Category 4 cyclone and was moving south at 4km an hour.

Tropical Cyclone Ului is expected to continue moving in a southerly direction for the next two day but is expected to turn west-southwest on Friday and move closer to the Queensland coast.  The Weather Bureau’s current scenario is for Tropical Cyclone Ului is to cross the Central Queensland coast sometime over the weekend.

At 10am this morning Severe Tropical Cyclone Ului was rated as a Category 4 Cyclone and located approximately 1450km northeast of Mackay. At that timeTropical Cyclone Ului was moving west southwest at approximately 7km an hour.

Tropical Cyclone Ului is expected to intensify over the coming days but is expected to remain off the Queensland coast for the next few days. The Weather Bureau says that, while Tropical Cyclone Ului’s path is uncertain the most likely scenario is for it to remain offshore and move south.

Premier Anna Bligh today announced significant changes to the Queensland land valuations system to provide greater certainty and align Queensland with other States.

The Premier has today committed to moving to site valuation, consistent with other jurisdictions and in line with what the property industry and local government have been seeking for some time.

The Government will put in place a new structure to reform the state valuation services including the appointment of an independent Valuer General to provide transparency in the assessment and issuing of valuations.

“In dealing with the past, the Government will legislate to maintain the status quo by validating valuations already issued.

“The Government is determined to protect Queenslanders from the potential for hundreds of millions in repayments which has emerged after a recent Court decision.

“The Government will pass legislation so the method for valuing property is crystal clear, now and into the future,” Ms Bligh said.

“This will allow us to complete the 2010 valuation with certainty, but we will then go further and introduce the simpler method of valuation – ’site value’ – for non-rural lands from the following year.

The Premier announced today the state would:

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We get plenty of sunshine all year round here in Hervey Bay and that makes power from the sun a very sensible option.

So if you want to find out more about solar hot water in Hervey Bay or solar electricity in Hervey Bay then follow the links to Solarhart Fraser Coast’s website and discover how easy it is to get your power from the sun.

When Kingfisher Bay first announced that they would be cutting out the fast catamaran services from Hervey Bay to Fraser Island there was some people left wondering how they would ever be able to negotiate the steep stairs that were then fitted to the barges.

At the time Kingfisher Bay management indicated that they would be modifying the barges to allow better access to the passenger deck and that now seems to have happed. Here’s one of the barges leaving River Heads and you can clearly see that it’s fitted with new stairs.

Today’s Courier Mail is carrying a story surveillance cameras and how a number of regional councils are investigating the possibility of having their cameras monitored by staff from Ipswich City Council. And of course our Mayor Mick is interested in having the security cameras in Hervey Bay and Maryborough monitored from Ipswich “… if the price is right”

Just what is the “right price” Mick? With at least three security providers here in Hervey Bay isn’t there at least one here that could do the job just as well as someone over in Ipswich?

Wouldn’t it be better to keep jobs here in the Fraser Coast Regional Council area even if we did have to pay a premium Mick?

I hope someone from the Council can explain why it’s better to send money out of the region than to employ people within the region.