Q150 Queensland's Birthday

Q150, 1770 Festival Committee. As representative of the 1770 Festival Committee, Royce Beale described how the 1770 Festival is the largest event in the Miriam Vale Shire which now has Council as a major sponsor.

He said that the 1770 area and particularly the 1770 Foreshore, is the most advertised area in the Miriam Vale Shire and most visited by tourists and locals alike. He believes that the 1770 area needs to be upgraded so all residents can be proud of it.

He likened the project to the one carried out by Calliope Shire which attracts tourists and locals to gather outdoors.

Mr Beale said that he is aware that the delay in development approvals can befrustrating along with the ongoing water issues in Agnes Water and 1770.

He believes that everyone wants what big cities have but with no thought as to who will pay. He said that fortunately this time, Council has been thrown a lifeline by the 1770 Festival Committee with this Q150 grant.

Mr Beale said that the Q150 grant and subsequent Foreshore development will really assist in putting the Town of 1770 on the map.

He thanked Councillors for listening.

At 9.40 am the public forum concluded and the meeting was opened to Councillors for discussion.

Cr Pam Mackie requested clarification under the Land Act in relation to the tenure of the1770 reserve and the ability of those funds to be expended on neighbouring land.

Mayor Tom Jeffery explained that the relevant information has been circulated toCouncillors.

Chief Executive Officer Greg Powell confirmed that there is provision in the Land Act forthat to occur.

It is subject to some administrative arrangements being put in place through the Department of Natural Resources and Water and it is possible to spend revenue gained from the 1770 camping grounds in adjoining reserves.

Cr Mackie queried if this is currently in place.

The Chief Executive Officer confirmed that it isn’t as the current tenure doesn’t permit this to happen. The administrative process through the State Government takes about three months to complete.

Cr Gary Dingle asked for clarification that the Act allows Council to do this providing itenhances the adjoining reserves.

He thought that it is allowed under the Land Act if itwould improve the budget for the financial year.

Cr Josie Meng queried the current problem with the lease is that there is actually none inplace.The Chief Executive Officer stated that he hasn’t investigated the situation in greatdetail.

In answer to the question, is it possible, the answer is yes, but administrative arrangements need to be put in place for this to occur.


Josie Meng said that her understanding is that money from the 1770 camping grounds is to be used on the adjoining reserves. However, she has only been informed in the lastc ouple of days that the land tenure does not permit this.

The Chief Executive Officer Greg Powell said that Council’s reserve fund is put together for that purpose which is as stated in its Annual Report, for money to be spent on reserves.

Looking at tenure arrangements, technically it can happen.

Once complete, it will be legally possible. In answer to a question about when the 1770 Foreshore project would need to be completed, the Chief Executive Officer said that it needs to be completed by 2009 to coincide withthe Q150 celebrations.

Cr Mackie queried if there could be a delay to correct the tenure of the grant.

The Chief Executive Officer suggested that Council can make provision for it in its 2007/08 and 2008/09 budgets. He confirmed that currently there is no detailed asset management plan in place for the 1770 camping grounds.

He believes approximately $185,000 has been allowed for capital works but essentially some are maintenance works. There is a surplus at this stage.

Cr Greg Realf thanked those people who gave presentations today.

He explained thathe was one of the Councillors that voted no, believing he was acting on behalf of theresidents of the whole Shire.

He personally felt that some of the issues needed moreclarification which has happened today. In hindsight, Cr Realf believes that Council could have asked for a deferment on this decision.

Cr Realf said that since he has been a Councillor, there has been a procedure where by money from developments in some areas has been spent on reserves and parks inthose areas. This essentially meant that other towns missed out. His initial query inrelation to the Q150 funding was how Council intended to raise its share of the funding.

He said that if it is made clear that Council’s share of the funding will come from thecamping ground revenue, he approves. However, he would still like to know what reserve funding is available to help other areas of the Shire.

Cr Ray Morrison explained to the meeting that he was appointed as Councillor about four years ago.

He said that he came to Council believing that he would be there for the whole Shire and he believes he has done that.

During his term there have been three Council budgets, two of which he voted against, a matter that is placed on record. The reason Cr Morrison voted against them was because he considered the budgets to beunfair and inequitable. Cr Morrison feels that it is the responsibility of Council to apportion funds where they are most needed. He doesn’t believe this has ever happened. He said Council heard this morning that under section 2.29 of the LocalGovernment Act, Council is not working towards that.

Cr Morrison said that if Council has $500,000 available, he believes it should be put into areas that are in desperate need of facilities and services such as those described bymembers of the public in the Public Forum. He doesn’t believe that anyone who is in of this particular Q150 project has considered the Shire as a whole.

He further believes that people who believe the project should proceed, have their own agenda.Cr Gary Dingle advised that he has been researching the Q150 project since last week’s meeting. He said that the State Government has put aside $100 million capital works funding program of which $20 million has been put aside for projects of State Significance.

Cr Dingle believes that the 1770 Foreshore project should have been set aside as a project of ‘state significance’ so that it should have been funded wholly by the State Government.

Cr Dingle said that expressions of interest (EOI) for this project were called for in themiddle of last year. The initial EOI was due by 11 August 2006 and the final costing by27 October 2006.

He believes that most Councillors knew nothing about this project untila couple of weeks ago when they were advised they were successful with the Foreshoreproject. Cr Dingle strongly believes that this project should have been brought to theattention of all Councillors, the community and community groups at the time when EOIwere called for so that whole community could have had input. He believes that this secrecy means that Council doesn’t have an open and honest system of government and objects to the fact that Councillors were not advised.

He has written to the Ministerto this effect and asked him to investigate the process.

Mayor Tom Jeffery advised that grants are continually applied for and staff are to be commended for the work they put into the applications. He said that no doubt the Minister will confirm this.

Cr Josie Meng restated her position that she has always represented the whole Shire.

She said it would appear on this occasion that the State Government did not follow its own guidelines only calling for EOI but not formal applications.

No other information was required except for the EOI.

Cr Pam Mackie thinks that staff have been proactive in sourcing funds but she echoesCr Dingle’s concerns. She believes that Council needs to be involved in the grantprocess.

On this occasion there were three EOI lodged by Council. On one EOI it saysthat Council actually has tenure on the land and has funding available.

However, the Miriam Vale enhancement project was overlooked and yet Council has tenure and it was endorsed by Council.

Cr Mackie says that she thinks the development of the 1770 Foreshore is a wonderful project and will bring great tourism benefits to the Shire but it has never been endorsed by Council as a future plan. She congratulated staff on sourcing funds but believes that Council needs to tighten up how funding is sourced.

Cr Mackie said that she is also extremely disappointed in how the State Government hasmanaged this funding.

To her knowledge Council was never asked to submit a form alapplication. Council was advised to submit an EOI. She believes this should have provided Council with a full opportunity to research how this project would be funded. However, this opportunity was never provided by the State Government.

She is also aware that some other Councils which have been successful in receiving Q150 grants will be rejecting the funding.

Cr Mackie doesn’t feel that Council acted inappropriately. She felt the need to be absolutely certain where the funding would come from and that it wasn’t to the detriment of the smaller areas within our Shire. It is apparent that funding is not available to spend on this project.

Cr Joe Stirrat clarified that it was his understanding that Council had agreed in principle to the Miriam Vale enhancement project but there was no actual adoption and that wasdone purely so that Council was not held to task to fund that project.

He thinks it wouldbe unwise for Council to agree to any project before going through a budget processsuch as this.

Cr Realf requested clarification that reserve funds can be used appropriately where theneed most exists.The Chief Executive Officer stated that the purpose of the reserve of approximately $600,000 is as stated in accounts which is that the reserve is created to fund capital expenditure at the 1770 camping grounds and surrounding parklands. He explained that some where along the way the tenure arrangements have changed but it is anadministrative issue that can be fixed.

Cr Greg Realf said that he understands that the camping ground funds can be used forthis project as opposed to other funds contributed by developers.

Mayor Tom Jeffery clarified that normally with developers’ contributions, Council has tojustify why it is raising the funds for another area, and if Council is unable to do this, it islikely to be difficult to use the funds in an area located away from their development.

When developers’ funds can be utilised, it can free up Council’s money to use elsewhere.

Cr Gary Dingle stated that the Q150 funding would have been an opportunity for the small towns within the Miriam Vale Shire to be upgraded but because information wasn’t readily available, the opportunity has been missed.

Cr Joe Stirrat stated he stands by the motion that he moved at the Council meeting lastweek. He believes there is no impost on the Shire’s ratepayers at all if the funding is raised from the profits of the 1770 camping ground.

His viewpoint is that this profit raised by the 1770 camping ground is to be spent in that area.

The 1770 Foreshore area needs enhancement and if it isn’t funded from the Q150 project, Council will have to rely solelyon the profits of the camping ground, resulting in delays of a number of years.

Cr Stirrat agrees that there is a problem with the way some of Council’s other funding isgenerated in growth areas but this matter needs to be workshopped at other meetings.

Cr Josie Meng seconded the motion as she did last week, querying whether detailsabout the administrative process that needs to be followed should be included.

Chief Executive Officer confirmed that the intent of the motion is evident and theprocess will follow.

Cr Pam Mackie asked that the information regarding the lease agreement be included, agreeing the information is contained in broad terms but there is no clarity about theterms of the lease.

Cr Mackie asked that the words: “in future all funding applications be circulated to Councillors prior to their submission” as she believes this is extremely important.

The Chief Executive Officer suggested dealing with that issue and other issues that havearisen, in a different way at another time

.Cr Meng agreed saying that she believes that this is an issue that can be raised separately.

The Chief Executive Officer said that what is lacking is a long term strategic plan forfunding.

Cr Ray Morrison said that he continues to have concerns about the actual 1770 Foreshore project requesting exact details and costings of the project, saying that he couldn’t vote on something for which he didn’t have details.

The Chief Executive Officer explained that those details are unavailable as Council wasonly asked to submit two pages of information as an Expression of Interest.

He reiterated earlier comments that the State Government missed the interim step ofseeking detailed applications before announcing the successful Q150 funding.

Council now has to put some ideas together and cost them and maybe the overall vision can’t bemet if Council doesn’t have sufficient funding.Cr Pam Mackie said that the State Government needs to accept some responsibility forthe situation Council finds itself in.

That Council approves budget funding of approximately $250,000 revenue for the2007/08 and 2008/09 budget years as Council’s 50% of the project cost to besourced from parks and crown land reserves and offset by the lease of thecaravan park, and that administrative processes be put in place to give effect toCouncil’s intent.Cr Dingle explained that he would be voting no as he doesn’t see any other option as heawaits a response from the Minister.

Joe Stirrat said that there appears to be the public perception that Council’s share ofthe funding for this project is money that can be spent anywhere in the Shire. However,the condition of this lease is that money can only be spent in reserves adjoining thecamping ground.

When you talk about other funding, you can talk about contributions atanother workshop if there is money to be spent in other areas.Crs Jeffery, Stirrat, Meng, Realf and Mackie voted in the affirmative with Crs Morrisonand Dingle voting in the negative.

That Council nominates Crs Jeffery and Realf to the steering committee with onemember acting as project chairman and Cr Meng as deputy should one of them beunavailable.

Crs Morrison and Dingle voted in the negative.3762RESOLVEDThat Council nominates members from the local Historical Group, the 1770Festival Committee and Discovery Coast Tourism and Commerce Inc as steeringcommittee members.Crs Morrison and Dingle voted in the negative.

Cr Josie Meng reiterated that Council needs to conduct future workshops to cover theother issues raised at today’s meeting.

Cr Pam Mackie reiterated that she would like Council staff to involve Councillors in thefunding application process.Meeting closed at 10.21 am.

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