Annual Report 2007/2008 Wook-Koo Park, Woocoo Fraser Coast Regional Council Contents Creation of a region 1 Message from the Mayor 2 Message from the Chief Executive Officer 5 Fraser Coast Regional Council 6 Hervey Bay City Council 8 Maryborough City Council 18 Tiaro Shire Council 29 Woocoo Shire Council 40 We welcome your feedback. If you would like to comment on this Annual Report or any of the activities of the Fraser Coast Regional Council please contact Council on 1800 881 400 or email [email protected]. Anzac Park, Maryborough The creation of a region... INTRODUCTION On 17 April 2007, the Local Government Reform Commission announced a change to Council boundaries, reducing the number of local government authorities in Queensland from 135 to 87. After the Local Government Election on 15 March 2008, the Councils of Hervey Bay City, Maryborough City, Tiaro Shire (Divisions 1 and 2) and Woocoo Shire were amalgamated to form the Fraser Coast Regional Council. This amalgamation of urban centres, coastal villages and country towns creates a rich tapestry of characters, landscapes and histories. The name Tiaro is aboriginal and translates as “withered or dead tree”. The first attempt at settlement in the Tiaro area was in 1842 when John Eales came overland with 20,000 sheep to establish a station. Although not successful, this marked a beginning for Tiaro. Also at this time Andrew Petrie’s expedition landed in Tiaro having explored the Mary River. Tiaro became a recognised settlement in 1867 as a result of the Gympie gold rush. The two-day trip to transport gold from Gympie mines to the river port of Maryborough was broken by an overnight stop in Tiaro, where the valuable cargo was secured in the Police Station. Tiaro Shire Council came into existence on 31 March 1903. The historic heart of the region is Maryborough. In 1861 Maryborough’s 650 residents won the right to ‘seek control of their township and affairs’ and Maryborough was declared a municipality with Henry Palmer as the first Mayor. Maryborough was a small but lively port settlement at the time. As the township grew, Council began introducing and continually upgrading the essential services that residents today take for granted – water supply from Teddington, gas then electric street lights and a bridge across the Mary River to link Maryborough with neighbouring settlements. In 1905 Maryborough was declared a City. The early settlers of the Woocoo district established a number of sheep stations in the Teebar and Gigoorngan areas from 1849 and the area quickly flourished. The building of the railway between Mungar and Gayndah brought in large numbers of settlers between 1885 and 1910 who diversified into dairy farming and timber getting. In the late 19th century the townships of Brooweena and Aramara were established and in 1915 the Woocoo Shire Council was formed. Woocoo is Aboriginal for “echidna”. Hervey Bay is one of the fastest growing cities in Australia, however it started life as a series of small fishing villages and holiday homes along the coast. Hervey Bay was named by Captain James Cook after Augustus Hervey, Lord of the Admiralty. In 1896 a railway line was constructed from Maryborough to Hervey Bay boosting tourism. The Urangan Pier was built in 1917 to facilitate the export of sugar and later coal. As development continued into the 1950s and 1960s the coastal townships of Point Vernon, Pialba, Scarness, Torquay and Urangan slowly began to merge into a single urban area. Hervey Bay was declared a Town in September 1977 and a City in February 1984. Quick Stats... FCRC Hervey Bay Maryborough Tiaro Woocoo 2 2 2 2 2 Land Size 7,125 km 2,356 km 1,234 km 2,196 km 2,006 km Population as at Census 2006 86,747 54,310 25,804 5,303 3,349 Estimated Population 2026 123,966 86,875 27,499 7,555 4,561 Number of Rateable Properties 49,600 29,600 13,700 4,500 1,800 Income (at March 2008) $162 million $118 million $32 million $7 million $5 million Expenditure (at March 2008) $115 million $78 million $27 million $6 million $4 million Total Assets (at March 2008) $1,534 million $896 million $469 million $65 million $104 million Page 1 INTRODUCTION Message from the Mayor, Cr Mick Kruger It is with pleasure that I write this message for the first Annual Report produced by the Fraser Coast Regional Council. In September last year the Minister for Local Government announced that Hervey Bay, Maryborough and Woocoo Councils and part of Tiaro Council would be amalgamated into the Fraser Coast Regional Council. The reform process was aimed at building stronger regions and delivering scales of economies through efficient and effective service delivery models. While the decision to amalgamate Councils was not universally popular and the task seemed daunting with severe time constraints, the broader opportunities afforded to larger organisations will in the longer term build a more vibrant and sustainable region. The time had come for change within Local Government to meet the challenges faced by a rapidly growing region in a competitive world. I believe the broader opportunities afforded to larger organisations will, in the longer term, build a more vibrant and sustainable region. These rewards will not come quickly or easily however the work undertaken to date provides a strong foundation on which to build. Merging four Councils into one progressive organisation is a balancing act of melding interests and priorities and will take time. During the first six months we have established a strong organisational and financial structure on which to build into the future. While we can expect the process to take years, all areas of our diverse region will benefit in the long run. In moving forward we must not forget the contributions of the four former Councils of Woocoo, Tiaro, Maryborough and Hervey Bay who served their communities well for many years. This annual report does not detail the individual achievements of the four previous councils but rather finalises the statutory requirements of amalgamation. I would like to highlight the following significant achievements for each of the predecessor councils: Tiaro Shire Council • Upgrade of Gunalda Recreation Grounds. • Cricket pitch upgrades at Bauple, Gundiah, Curra and Gunalda with Sport and Recreation funding. • Playground, park and exercise equipment provided in Gunalda, Curra, Tinnanbar, Glenwood, Bauple and Tiaro. • Contribution towards Curra Country Club extensions. • Upgrade of bridge infrastructure - Redbank Creek Bridge, 11 bridges on Thinoomba Road, Kooringa Road and Oakey Creek and provision of $500,000 for Kunst Bridge. • Successful application for Q150 funding for the Bauple Recreation Building. • Final payment of loan borrowings for Emery’s Bridge. Hervey Bay City Council • Over $11m spent on road infrastructure including stage one of the Main Street reconstruction and Torquay Road extension. • Almost $2m allocated to parks and recreation areas including designs for a “City Park” in the centre of the old CBD in Pialba. • Successful application for funding to develop an ‘all abilities’ playground in Pialba. • Continuation of work on the Hervey Bay Airport Master Plan with $1.4m allowed for extensions to the car parks, work on the runway and new hangars, and funding allocated to airport ambulance facilities. • The purchase of two environmentally significant Booral properties with funds from the Environment Levy. Page 2 Woocoo Shire Council • Completion of the outdoor entertainment and storage facility at Woocoo’s Community Hall with a Rural INTRODUCTION Living Infrastructure Grant. • Refurbishment of the Mt Joseph Memorial Bridge through the Community Memorials Restoration Program. • Approval of a commercial development of shops and a service station at Oakhurst Gardens. • Completion of the artwork for Wook-Koo Park. • Facilitation of the extension of Ergon Energy’s electricity infrastructure for the Fraser Coast, with the building of the Ergon Energy and Powerlink substations and duplication of power lines within the shire. Maryborough City Council • Commissioning of the Conservation Management Plan and Landscape Management Plan for the Original Maryborough Site. • Commissioning of the Infrastructure Investigations Report for the proposed Bruce Highway Industrial Estate and the initiation of negotiations with the Department of Infrastructure on linkages between the proposed estate and adjoining Moonaboola Industrial Estate. • Architectural consultant commissioned to undertake concept planning and detailed design of the proposed Animal Care Facility. • Landscape Master Plan commissioned and adopted for the Q150 Portside Passage Project. Opportunities abound in our region and I believe we now have a Council capable of capitalising on our strengths for the benefit of our residents. I am honoured to have been elected Mayor of our exceptional region and I am proud of our Regional Council’s achievements so far in adopting and promoting a regional identity, strategy and culture. Mick Kruger Mayor, Fraser Coast Regional Council Page 3 Light House, Great Sandy Strait Portside, Maryborough INTRODUCTION Message from the CEO, Mr Andrew Brien 2007/2008 has been an extremely challenging and often frustrating year for all local governments in Queensland. The announcement by the Local Government Reform Commission that Councils would be amalgamated into fewer, larger entities saw the creation of the Fraser Coast Regional Council comprising the former Councils of Hervey Bay, Woocoo, Maryborough and part of Tiaro. Council staff worked extremely hard to combine those four disparate Councils into one organisation and while we are only a few months into this new and exciting era of local government, the Fraser Coast Regional ethos is already established and flourishing. While the task is not yet complete, we are well on target to finalise the process by the end of the next financial year – a great achievement of which we can all be proud.