Sue Brooks’ Blog

sue September 28th, 2008

The comments about the lack of opportunity for local tendering I believe are fairly made. I do however acknowledge that Council was keen to establish itself in terms of identity and with the adoption of portfolios this project was portfolio driven and used suppliers that the Maryborough City Council has successfully used in the past. While I totally agree that using local providers and suppliers is always preferable to not doing so, I will ask more questions about how we can ensure that future activities do provide the opportunity for local competition. There have been new businesses established locally since 2004 and I believe these businesses should be given an opportunity to ’strut their stuff’.

Councillors are chairperson of one portfolio only and are members on others but can attend any portfolio meeting that they wish. I agree that the breadth of activities undertaken by Council does make it difficult for any one Councillor to be very closely involved with every portfolio so we do need to share responsibility and concentrate on our own portfolio area primarily. I also am keen to review the way in which the outcomes of portfolio meetings are reported publicly as I believe this is an essential aspect of ‘good governance’.

Even though it is now 6 months since March and the formation of this new FCRC, I often still feel like we are very ‘new’. Staff are finally settling into their permanent roles and so are the Councillors I believe. But there is always room for improvement in the way we do things. Councillors and Directors are busily involved with our corporate planning and this process will help guide the way we deliver on our aims and commitments.

I also wish to say that I believe we have a team of very responsible, hard working and honest staff who work in a very responsible and honest manner. I also believe the challenges of amalgamation have been huge but that everyone is working towards achieving a united, competent and efficient Council that provides a high quality service to our community.

• Comments and questions
• Comments(4)

sue September 26th, 2008

There has been some discussion and questions re the process involved in developing our recently launched branding. This following outline of the process is provided by Ms Lisa Desmond, Director Organisational Services and I thank her for taking the time to respond to my query about this matter. One of the things that has happened since amalgamation is that the FCRC is now selectively using some processes that were already in place by each Council prior to amalgamation.

‘The development of the Regional Branding and production of the Fraser Coast Magazine was undertaken in two stages. In developing the Regional Brand Anne Maree Althaus was approached to provide a proposal on assisting in the development of a Regional Branding Strategy for implementation across a range of marketing and promotional projects including the Magazine. The acceptance of this proposal was in accordance with Local Government Act procurement requirements whilst taking into consideration many factors including -

the existing extensive professional involvement with Maryborough City Council in the development of their branding strategies (after an exhaustive tendering process undertaken by Maryborough in 2004 which included many local businesses),

familiarity with the process and desired outcomes with a view to retaining synergies given the success of the Maryborough campaign, and

the extremely tight timeframes to meet publication deadlines for the magazine.

The process in developing the “Regional Brand Identity” involved an initial workshop to identify desired communication strategies, a vision of Fraser Coast with respect to target markets, understanding corporate identity and developing a “visual voice” for the new brand. Following the development of initial concepts a further two workshops were held with all Councillors before finalisation. The outcome was a multi-faceted approach, incorporating strategic marketing and communications, to deal with the challenge of building unity and regional pride among newly amalgamated residents and creating a new visual identity for the region. The new regional brand uses a series of integrated symbols and patterns to represent the whole region and convey its four key features - great natural beauty, surprising diversity, rich heritage and friendly nature. The regional branding will feature in marketing publications, tourism websites, products and promotions and will be used on new billboards across the region.

In respect to the design and printing of the Magazine although there was no requirement to tender this work Council however undertook an Expressions of Interest process which was advertised in local papers. Five submissions were received from both Local and Non-Local businesses. Upon assessment of the individual submissions against specific criteria including Experience, Track Record, Timeframes, Price and Evidence of similar work - Anne Maree Althaus was successful in performing this body of work. The Our Fraser Coast magazine was a key strategy, delivered to the door of all residents, with the aim of educating and inspiring its readers about the region they live in.

The magazine serves a dual purpose, as it also introduces residents to the new regional brand.

Council values its local businesses and utilises and support many local firms in its advertising and marketing including:

a range of advertising in the local newspapers within Maryborough and Hervey Bay;

advertising in locally produced tourism publications;

printing of corporate stationary locally;

local use of graphic designers for layouts for corporate publications; and

local businesses utilised for banner printing, name badges, re-run of brochures and corporate gifts.

For more information on the new regional brand and corporate logo go to www.frasercoast.qld.gov.au’

• Comments and questions
• Comments(9)

sue September 22nd, 2008

Just a quick update on works at the Maryborough Landfill. I expect that these works will mean a much improved outcome for all users. The following was in response to a resident enquiry but I thought it worth sharing.

“Council is not dumping recyclable material into the Landfill at any waste site.

There are some items that would normally have gone to the REST recoverable area that are reaching the landfill during the work that is happening at the Maryborough Landfill to construct an improved recycling drop off area and market sales shed which will dramatically reduce the amount of material going to landfill.

 There is an area that residents can drop off useable materials or recyclables whilst the work on site is happening. It is hoped that a new Recycling Tender and the construction of an under cover drop area and market sales building will be completed by 30 June 2009.

 Recycling bins are now available to Maryborough businesses, they should contact Maryborough customer service who will arrange a waste service officer to complete the necessary paperwork and have the bin/s delivered”.

 Regards

 Martyn

 Martyn Walton

Executive Manager

Fraser Coast Waste

Fraser Coast Regional Council

41-47 Ellengowan street

Urangan 4655

• Comments and questions
• Comments(0)

sue August 24th, 2008

Maryborough City Council had been negotiating with a Flight Training School with the view of it building a school on the Maryborough Airport prior to amalgamation. Such a school would have an impact on the Hervey Bay airport also, in that training flights would use this airport.

The Fraser Coast Regional Council will now have to make the final decisions about this flight training school. I invite your comments as I am not sure that Hervey Bay residents know much about the proposal or about the local impact.

Flight Training Queensland http://www.flighttrainingqueensland.com/ is the organisation. They are currently based at Parafield in SA. http://www.flighttrainingadelaide.com/

I would appreciate your comments and questions.

• Comments and questions
• Comments(17)