Regional Development, Industry, Agriculture, Water Security and Development Services

to be delivered including an action plan to support delivery of Council’s Regional Development Strategy and the creation of a South Burnett Business Prospectus to provide a detailed overview of the region and its advantages as a community of choice to invest in, do business and call home.

Regional Development portfolio holder, Cr Kirstie Schumacher said that while Council is focused on supporting our existing local businesses to build resilience and capacity, this year’s focus will include initiatives and partnerships that enable new businesses and streamline development.

“It’s pleasing that through this budget and the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grant that Council will host a range of economic recovery and resilience activities for the South Burnett business community. Council with continue to deliver economic development projects via the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grant and the work undertaken by Council’s Community Development team” said Cr Schumacher.

“It’s wonderful to see that the works funded by the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery funding agreements have enabled street appeal and placemaking improvements across our region and our town centres and that many local contractors and businesses have benefited from, the South Burnett Facade Improvement Scheme” she said.

With ongoing demand in the building and development industries, Council has budgeted $1.5 million to provide development assessment, building certification services, and plumbing approval services during the 2023/24 financial year. This cost will be largely offset via application fees and charges.

The proposed major amendment of the Council’s Planning Scheme will be finalised this financial year, in an effort to improve the scheme’s efficiency and provide streamlined support and remove unnecessary triggers for development applications.

“Council’s Infrastructure Incentives Policy will continue as will Council’s focus on red tape reduction, improving our website to make it more user friendly and streamlining our internal processes to support the growth of our region, its population and economy.”

“We’ve met with other Councils to understand some of the improvements they’ve made to fast track their development process, and we are working to incorporating these learnings into the way we offer our services here in the South Burnett. We recognise the strong pipeline of construction projects proposed for the South Burnett and are committed to doing what we can as a Council to ensure the economic, social and environmental outcomes promised align with our region’s core values and benefits are shared across the region” said Cr Schumacher.

Council is eagerly awaiting the outcome of the Local Led Economic Recovery grant which will focus on partnership with community and business groups, Visit South Burnett and other professional services to promote the region and invest our major festivals that are giant economic generators.

Water for the future

Council will continue our work alongside the community and state and federal government to progress key outcomes for both urban and rural water security objectives which were developed as part of its National Water Infrastructure Development Fund (NWIDF) partnership with the Australian and Queensland governments.

“There is nothing that we cannot grow in the South Burnett, we see an enormous opportunity to increase our agricultural and manufacturing outputs however we need secure and reliable water for our region and this must be a priority for all levels of government.”

“I’m committed to continuing the work undertaken as part of our 25 year economic road map to achieve the government’s commitments to decarbonization, however to secure our future and jobs for this generation and the next we need government to build the water infrastructure we have proposed.”

“A core focus for the year ahead will be to continue to advocate for government support to investigate the opportunities to progressively re-purpose water currently used for energy production to support high-value agriculture,” Cr Schumacher said.

Council and key stakeholders from our agricultural sectors who participated in the NWIDF have short, medium and long term objectives and currently continue to push all levels of government for business case investment of Barlil Weir, Blackbutt Irrigation and Gordonbrook Irrigation Schemes, along with further development of Barker Barambah water supply projects.

“This planning work is critical to ensuring these projects do not continue to live in a report on a book shelf, but rather that we as a region see these projects funded and shovels in the ground,” Cr Schumacher said.

Energy Transition

Council’s involvement through the LGAQ led Resource Council initiative provides advocacy to support a sustainable future. Complementing this, Council continues to talk with all levels of government to ensure it understands the challenges of this generational change, listens to our community and that the promised social and economic benefits of renewable energy are realised in the South Burnett.

Community Housing

Council in partnership with Regional Housing Limited (RHL) and the State government will develop three new 2-bedroom housing units in Kingaroy, providing safe and secure homes for families in need. This project is in addition to the previously announced 2 Unit Social Housing development also being delivered in Kingaroy through the same partnership and funding arrangement.

"We know there are people in need in our community and by working together with RHL and State Government this is just one more step in our shared vision to ensure every person has a right to a home. Council will continue to work with the state and LGAQ to develop our Local Housing Action Plan, and through this process look at what other land and opportunities Council may be able to pursue or enable to encourage the creation of more housing stocks in the region,” Cr Schumacher said.