Archive for the 'General News' Category

Party politics at work

June 24th, 2010

We start today with a new PM elect. While there is much talk about the fact that Julia Gillard will be our first female PM I can’t help but think how fickle is the world of the politician. Do we all feel cheated that Kevin won’t be judged again by the Australian people? Will it really hit home that we vote for a party and not for a person when we vote for a member of any political party at election time?

I am becoming more and more jaded by the whole entire process and even more worried and concerned that our country is actually run by many, many people that we don’t actually elect. The spheres of influence run deep and I believe it is many many people, other than the politicians themselves, that actually influence the decisions that we all have to abide by. I personally experience this at the local level so I hate to think what occurs at the higher levels of government.

The media also plays a huge part by directly influencing public opinion. The personal beliefs and allegiances of our media owners and the business and corporate CEO’s and their board members as well as Union reps are all very powerful and pull many strings.  I worry that the general public are fed the stories that support the interests of everyone other than the general public.

So will the change in Labor leadership help the Labor Party to continue to lead our country? I doubt it. I think the change will make us all feel less secure about the political system itself. The challenge for all of us is how do we help to make our system of government more open and transparent and more representative of the majority of the people. Do the majority of the people properly understand how the country is run? I’m not sure I have an answer I’m sad to say.

Baby boomers still rock

May 31st, 2010

Sat night at Seafront Oval saw a large crowd enjoying some excellent live music. We arrived at about 6pm just in time to settle in and listen to Joe Camilleri minus his female backing singers. Joe was great and his music still excellent after over 30 years of entertaining us. Next we listened to Shannon Noll and although I didn’t know a lot of his material he was an energetic and charming performer. Next of course was the ever loud Jimmy Barnes. Jimmy can still belt out his songs and we listened to nearly an hour of newer material followed by his hits of course. I was glad it didn’t rain and also found it very enjoyable to hang out and rock along in a mosh pit with such a mix of people. Many grey beards mixed in with young school children. The concert was an enjoyable family affair. It was well organised, sounded great and I hope we see more acts here in the future.

Fraser Coast 2031. The future of our region is up to you! http://www.frasercoast.qld.gov.au/web/guest/fcrc2031-have-your-say

Council is asking for your input now to help us decide the future footprint of our region. If you do or don’t want more high rise along the foreshore or you want development to grow in a certain direction or not at all or you want to see certain types of industry encouraged to come here this is the time to have your say. Decisions will be based on community input so I can’t emphasise the importance of taking the time to engage and be involved in the process. There is heaps of information on the Council web site and there will be hard copy forms and brochures available at Libraries etc. If you fill in the questionnaire online there is weekend away at Kingfisher to possibly win!

Also there are some sign boards up and about asking for your input about developments. The Maher development cnr Beach Rd and Esplanade is a multi storey building and submissions are open now. Many of you have received letters from the solicitors acting for the Braith Vidler, Anson’s Rd, Dundowran Beach decision. The developer is appealing the Council rejection of this application so Council will have to defend its decision in Court. Main Roads will also have to defend as they advised Council to say no to the development. I encourage you to all to be involved in what is occurring in relation to development. Your voices matter and it really is too late to complain once a building is starting construction or a telecommunications tower is being erected or a housing estate is going in down the road! If you require more information about how to become more involved don’t hesitate to ring Council, peruse the web site or ask a Councillor.

Jimmy rocks the Seafront Oval

Building fences, showtime and birdsong.

May 23rd, 2010

Firstly a huge thank you to Kristy Martin from the Chronicle. It was Christy that single handedly organised a group of small business owners and volunteers to build a fence. Craigs’ fencing, Dundowran Demolitions, Byrne Bros concreting, The Howard Sawmill, Dale and Meyers Hardware and Sunrise Rotary all combined their products and services to do a very good deed. They built a back fence for the lovely Marie. Marie lives adjacent our mobility corridor in Hervey Bay and while this corridor makes it easier for many of us to get around it also attracts the odd undesirable member of our community who thinks breaking into an elderly ladies home to steal her belongings while she is asleep in bed, is somehow an OK thing to do! I can’t express my gratitude to Kristy and to the workers who have helped build a new fence for Marie so she can now sleep much more securely and peacefully. Times are tough right now for any small business owner so I’m sure I’m not alone in appreciating the contribution that these business owners have made. We really do live live in a caring and happy community.

I spent 2 hours helping out on the Council stall at the Show yesterday. The sun was shining the weather was superb but the lack of crowds was disappointing. Maybe everyone that wanted to go to the show did so on Friday as there weren’t many people around yesterday. However everyone I spoke to was pleasant and positive and even the odd complaint was made in a cheerful and positive manner. It was such a relief to have happy chats with families and elderly folk who were out and about enjoying themselves. The day was a timely reminder that just because I read a daily paper that reports on a lot of bad news, blogs that are often a forum for complaints and personally receive many complaints about Council activities, that there are many, many other people living a quiet and contented life, They take the ups and downs of daily life in their stride and get on with things with a smile. My hat, if I wore won, is lifted and tilted in your direction.

But.. I would also like to support Maryborough State Member Chris Foley in his grumbles about QBuild and the cost to change a light globe in his office. In a previous life I worked for TAFE. The thought of having to use QBuild to get anything of a building nature done at Wide Bay TAFE used to send shivers of fear into all the staff. Quite simply the prices quoted to fix anything or paint anything etc were astronomical. There is definitely something wrong with this system. Either it is is bureacracy gone mad or some local suppliers are making a killing at the expense of their fellow community members who pay for their windfalls via taxes. I do believe every layer of Government needs to closely examine how they procure services and ensure that costs are competitive and not a rip off!

While the nights and mornings are turning chilly the prolific bird numbers in our neck of the woods are amazing. Lorikeets fill the air with their noisy chattering and feast on the blossom prevalent in our gum trees. My native bees are busy as ever as soon as the sun starts to shine and we have a new friend visiting. Bruce the butcherbird has decided to spend enough time on our pool fence or our BBQ to warrant a treat or two of minced turkey. The cats are already used to him and simply ignore him now but he has visited for the last 4 days  perching quite happily near us and letting us hand feed him.  I wonder if he will find a mate or if in fact he is a she! While I don’t usually feed the native wildlife he is so persistent that we simply can’t resist.

Structure Planning, petitions etc

April 10th, 2010

Last night Graham and I enjoyed the opening of two new exhibitions at the Hervey Bay Regional Gallery. I am continually amazed at the depth of talent that we have here within our very own community and I recommend that you all pop in and view the exhibitions and in particular the works by local artist Mr Ben Gerdsen. http://www.herveybayregionalgallery.org.au/26/Current+Exhibitions/191/Beyond+Decorative

After leaving the Gallery we decided to grab a bite to eat at Thai Diamond at Scarness. It was approx 8.30pm and we were sad to note that many of the restaurants we drove past were all but empty. Retail sellers also are telling us that times are tougher than last year. Our own business has not had as ‘good’ an Easter as we have experienced in past years. I haven’t noticed as many interstate licence plates on cars on our roads either and note that accomodation establishments are reporting that times are tough with higher than desired vacancy rates.

So I ask that if you can possibly afford it please do patronise our local small businesses. While small businesses can tighten the proverbial belt they still have to pay staff, rents and ongoing overheads etc and it is very sad to see businesses fail. By just going out for a meal now and then and spending our hard earned dollars locally we can do our bit to help these businesses survive so that our community continues to thrive and prosper.

So to Council -

STRUCTURE PLANNING

This Monday evening there is a community meeting scheduled to inform interested residents about the Structure Planning process that is being undertaken for land between Dundowran and Eli Waters as well as land at Doolong Flats and Ghost Hill. This planning process is to decide where we want our major connector roads and drains etc to be located when this land is developed. I am very pleased that Council is committed to this process as forward planning our development should mean much better road connectivity and drainage and other service provision than has occurred in some areas in the past. The public meeting is at The Hervey Bay Hotel, 249 Esplanade, Pialba at 6pm. Council has a new web site and more information can be found there rather than me copying it all here. If you visit the web site and click on the Latest News link you should find the detailed information. http://www.frasercoast.qld.gov.au

Council can now be followed on twitter and I encourage those that don’t want to tweet to sign up for the electronic newsletter. There is much information about Council and many opportunities for community participation so do visit the new web site and have a look around.

Lastly I thought I might take a swing at the petition doing the rounds. I am all for public discussion and public communication but please ‘think before you sign’ may be a worthy motto. The petition currently doing the rounds is calling for Council and the CEO and the administration to be sacked! Now if the petition included evidence and grounds to support the call for a mass sacking I would take it seriously but it doesn’t. I understand people are dissatisfied with Council as I hear the constant pleas for Council to fix everything today and to somehow do this while not putting up rates and fees and charges.

In other words I’m a tiny bit cranky. Council has faced enormous challenge to make the best of a change the majority of us didn’t want. Council is not perfect and we don’t get everything right all of the time but from where I sit things are constantly improving. Customer service has improved, financial management is excellent and I believe the leadership of staff under our CEO is aligned with Councillors  expectations and we are delivering a good standard of service to our community.

I hear moans that we are losing development. Well from reading widely I find that this is the case nation wide and we are in fact better off than many other cities and towns. I definitely won’t be voting to support development that is not of good quality and in line with Planning Scheme requirements as I don’t want cheap low quality inappropriate development within this region. While I support a period of discounting of infrastructure charges to provide a buffer in this tough economic climate, Council cannot comtinue to subsidise development unless we raise rates. At the end of the day someone has to pay for our roads, our rubbish collection and disposal, our drains and our bridges and everything else that the community demands and desires.

I hear calls now in the local paper for more events. Council spends hundreds of thousands of dollars currently on events and tourism related activities and if we are expected to spend more then I ask that someone looks closely at our budget and explains to me where we can take the money from. This is but one example of requests made to Council and I shudder when I think of all the road and footpath works we need to do and the simple lack of funds to dedicate to these works. The State Government has reduced funding which exacerbates our problems.

So Mr Primavera if you want the Council ‘sacked’ can you provide me with some solid evidence that Council is broken and beyond repair please?

Weekend musings

March 21st, 2010

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the USQ production of Twelfth Night at The Brolga theatre. The evening was very enjoyable and the students can be proud of the professional manner in which they presented Shakespeare to us. A shame that we couldn’t sit on the grass on a balmy warm evening and enjoy an outdoor production but I was just as happy indoors. The evening marked the start of our Fraser Coast cultural week with the festival swinging into gear throughout the week. Next weekend will see the festival on the foreshore at Scarness and the Harmony performance at The Brolga. Both events should be a must see. http://www.frasercoastculturalfestival.org.au/

This week Councillors met with the new board members of Wide Bay Water Corp and I am personally very pleased with the personal experience and skill that these individuals are bringing to our region. I expect that our community will reap the benefits of a new very well experienced and independent board. We have challenging times ahead with less financial assistance from the State Government, in terms of monies for infrastructure, so it is good to know that our new Board members are very keen to work closely with Council to bring about positive results for our community.

Interesting coverage in the Chronicle about our Councillor Blackberry use. I am primarily an emailer rather than a ‘chat on the phone person’ so my charges are reduced as email costs less than talking does. It is essential for Councillors to have quick and easy communication tools at their disposal however so the list didn’t surprise me.

So to wind up the weekend with some pool news. I visited the pool yesterday unannounced and chatted to some pool users and watched the activity there. For a cool morning the pool was busy. It is a small piece of land without too much room to spare and the changing rooms etc have obviously passed their use by date, but the complex is obviously well used and cared for as it was very clean. I noted the fact that no one sunbakes these days so the need for expansive lawns seems much less essential than in my youth. It would be nice I thought, to have more room and space for trees and shaded lawns, but it seems functionality is the primary concern of the community.

An elderly gentleman was slowly swimming lap after lap (I was told he is in his nineties..amazing) and some women were doing water aerobic training also up and down the 50m length of the pool. The learn to swim classes were in full swing in the smaller pool and the sight and sound of all those little bodies enjoying their time in the water with mum and/or dad was uplifting. Maybe there is a future Olympic champion in the making amongst them?

I’m glad the cyclone has passed with no major damage and that we are receiving soaking but not flooding rains! Take care and have a cosy and safe Sunday. Sue

PS There has been one or two comments recently that I have either edited or trashed. The first time really that I have decided not to publish a contributed comment. I have attempted to email the contributor with no success so if your comment doesn’t appear on this blog it is because I have deemed it unsuitable. I detest censoring your comments and mostly refrain from doing so but simply calling people names and saying derogatory things about a community is not worthy of publicity in my opinion. So can we keep to fair criticism of myself and each other but include suggestions for change also? While there is a benefit in being able to comment anonymously I believe there is also a responsibility to remain polite, respectful and truthful. Cheers, Sue

Arkarra, Council Meeting and Guinea Fowl travels

March 1st, 2010

It was great to see the Chronicle writing about Arkarra Tea Gardens on Friday and Saturday as I still fear for the future of our little local icon. But the story on Friday is a great example of how journalism these days seems to believe that facts shouldn’t get in the way of a good story. The story began with the assertion that I was on record as voting against development applications in relation to the former owners of the Tea Gardens. This statement wasn’t even remotley true it was just wrong. I did enquire directly of the editor as to where they obtained their information from but I was advised that this was confidential (of course) but possibly I had debated against an application? This was grasping at straws in the extrmeme but just proves to me yet again not to believe much if anything that I read in the media these days.

So yes Graham and I would purchase the Tea Gardens and did in fact attempt to buy them, but the price went up after we had been told our offer was accepted by close to a hundred thousand dollars, and no matter which way we look at it we can’t see a return on the necessary investment. The land is potentially subdivideable which terrifies me as I believe it would be a great shame to lose the lovely local business. The existing conditions relating to the use were the result of a development application to extend the business and not, in my opinion, why the business failed.

Council meets this week to discuss sport and recreation issues and opening hours for the waste sites at Granville, Tinana, Yengarie and Bauple. A hard one as the survey shows across the board support for all hours so I am still undecided as to how best we provide a good service that will suit the majority of users. We discuss our Complaints process and review complaints received and check out how we are travelling financially. In confidential we will have the opportunity to see information from our airports land use review. A hot topic for sure. The agenda is available now via the Council web site.

Our Guinea Fowl went walk about last week escaping to the greener (well browner really) forest at the rear of our property. After a couple of days with no sign of them we discovered them wandering around at the end of our street. They didn’t want to follow me home but wandered in on Friday evening so life is back to normal. They are being noisier than they should be so I have threatened to leave the gate open and let them fend for themselves!

Take care, Sue

Happy Christmas to everyone

December 23rd, 2009

What a busy time of year this is. I’m still rushing to get things done but am happy to report that our shop Mind Games is trading well which is a huge relief after a very stressful year. Many retailers that we speak to have been hit hard recently so it is pleasing to hear some good news stories from our local small business owners. I trust you all trade well during the holidays and have a relaxing day off tomorrow. My daughter is visiting and helping out in our shop so that has taken the burden off me somewhat although Graham continues to work long hours.

I have decided that what I haven’t caught up with in relation to Council business by now can wait till after New Years Day. I have tried to respond to all my outstanding queries and questions so if I have missed you I do apologise and will catch up after I have a bit of a rest.

The last week of Council was a busy one with our final meeting for the year and several Christmas functions to attend. The Mayor has received the final report in relation to the reported bullying accusations and I am very pleased that this report resulted in no allegations being substantiated against any current Council employees. It is always best to take the positive view when possible and I look forward to 2010 being one of renewed confidence in our Council team and a year when we consolidate our programmes and future plans. Much public discussion will be invited as we move forward with these processes and I look forward to this stage of our evolution as a region.

So in closing I wish you all a happy, safe and healthy Christmas and new Year and trust that you enjoy the rain and sunshine as I hope we get a fair share of both over the coming weeks.

For a thoroughly beautiful online Christmas experience I highly recommend Jacquie Lawson. After sending and receiving her cards in the past I joined up as I appreciate the care and detail and lack of advertising that abounds on her site. www.jacquielawson.com

Serenity (Holiday Version) animated Flash ecard

Tour de Bay is coming.

October 11th, 2009

ready to go

ready to go

I have put my hand up to participate in the Tour De Bay. I have bought the bike and the helmet and have had a couple of very enjoyable practice rides locally. I’m am looking forward to next weekend when hopefully hundreds of us will take to the paths and roads to raise money for the Hervey Bay Community Centre.

The tour should be great fun and the cause is a very worthy one. I have chosen to ride just the 10 kms (start off carefully is my motto) and am looking forward to it. If you would like to join in the fun here is the web site

http://www.ourcommunitycentre.com.au/joomla/fundraising/bay-charity-bike-ride.html

I am going to try and raise some funds so if you would like to sponsor me drop me a line or call into Mind Games where Graham has the paperwork. The local Bicycle Users Group are assisting and the day will end with a fair and party at the Botanic Gardens. Should be a great day out! Now I just have to remember to use that left hand to stop and not back peddle….

On Friday I attended the UDIA luncheon where Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasle spoke. He is a vibrant, passionate and entertaining speaker and told us about his visions for Ipswich. While Paul spoke proudly about the value of growth and development he emphsised that ‘good development’ was essential and that his Council does not tolerate ‘bad’ development.

After the talk I asked Paul about the problems of focussing entirely on growth for Ipswich’s future. I asked what happens when you run out of land on which to build. Paul promptly replied that there is only room for 650k people in the Ipswich region and that is the capacity aimed for. I am going to further the discussion to discover how Paul plans to change the economic focus of the area post the development boom. He is quite assured that Ipswich can become a sustainable city.  He says after 650k people they would run out of jobs so I look forward to learning more about Ipswich future plans. I was very impressed with Paul and the energy and passion that he uses to drive his vision for Ipswich. I am sure staff at Ipswich Council have an interesting life working along side him.

Better news

September 24th, 2009

Great to read the story in the Chronicle today written by Stephen O’Grady after he spoke with me on Tuesday. After Peter Chapman wrote about this blog on Saturday I took up his invitation to call him. We had a short but informative and very cordial chat and Peter decided to ask Stephen to follow up on some of the issues that I had raised via this blog.

I thank Peter and Stephen for giving me the opportunity to be heard. My worries about how a conversation would turn out in print were unnecessary as Stephen has done a good job. Chronicle journalists have in the past, had a hard time being granted enough space to write very many ‘in depth’ news stories. I look forward to the new look Chronicle, under Peter’s leadership, devoting more space to a story or interview so that we the reading public, can learn more about a particular issue or person and receive both sides to any given issue.  In the national weekend papers I enjoy feature columns where a writer can take the time to develop a line of thought or give us a very detailed account of an issue. While I understand that space is more limited in a daily regional paper I hope we can somehow squash in the longer story.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the entire front page being devoted to a story about the eagles nesting at Urangan earlier this week. Now that front page story was a lovely way to start the day. Much more uplifting than the latest car crash or courthouse story. My only question now is …’What has happened to Quick Draw?” Whoever was the human behind these cartoons they added a very special something local to our daily news. I hope Quick Draw is having a holiday and will be back soon to enlighten us, irritate us or humour us via those skillfully rendered cartoons.

In relation to development issues the main point I was attempting to make is that Council has to decide a development application based on compliance with a set of rules and if these rules don’t provide the result we, as a community desire, then we should change the rules. And yes I truly wish that we had fewer ‘rules’ and where we have good rules that we have a better means of enforcing them.

(So while I think of rules…. to the guys continually fishing at Arkarra Lagoons we know you are doing it and it is against a Council rule. The lagoon is a no fishing area. Many residents are very annoyed that you are blatantly breaking the rules… Maybe a hefty fine will get the message across).

Mobility Scooters and Dingo’s

September 20th, 2009

Yesterday morning saw the very long convoy of mobility scooters take to the Esplanade pathway. I hope that we will finally make it into the Guinness Book of Records this year for the longest convoy. I always enjoy talking to people who join in and make these events special. No one complained about waiting for the Minister and the officialdom to arrive. The mood was buoyant and although I ran away without attending the finish line I’m sure the partying was every bit as joyful as was the start.

Today I popped down again to our foreshore and met all the very concerned and committed people trying to save the Fraser Island Dingo. I met Jennifer Parkhurst and Dingo Simon amongst others. I saw some of the photographs of what looks like a dingo with fatal gun shot wounds. I am very concerned that the dingo’s on Fraser Island are being mistreated and hope that the Minister Kate Jones takes the time to listen to some of the stories told by the people who actualy live or have lived on the island over the years. I believe the stories they tell me of a time when the dingo was an accepted part of island life and no one feared for their safety. I also believe that increased tourism has led to the conflict between human safety and dingo preservation. I believe with sensible conversations we can learn to co exist and that preserving the dingo means preserving their family structures and their environment and taking care when we enter their domain.

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