Mayor Keith Campbell - Economic Development Portfolio Report - 19 April 2017

Regional Innovation Hub

The State Government recently announced the Regional Innovation Program which is only available to 12 Queensland Regional Areas one of which is the Wide Bay Burnett.

This program presents the opportunity to build upon innovation in the South Burnett by working with Red Earth Foundation and in conjunction with other Wide Bay Burnett Councils through Wide Bay Regional Organisation of Councils (WBBROC).

Communication Community Survey

My fellow Councillors and I would like to better understand how our community finds out information about what’s happening locally.  It is valuable to survey our community periodically so that we not only understand how best to provide information from Council, but also to find out how our community prefers to provide feedback on plans, strategies and decisions of Council.  To this end, Council has released a short community survey. The survey results will assist Council in improving our community engagement and communication processes. The survey is available over the phone, online via Council’s website and Facebook page, over the counter at Council’s Customer Service Offices as well as in our libraries.

Media Engagement Statistics

Council undertakes an extensive program of media engagement to ensure the South Burnett ratepayers, residents, businesses and community organisations are appropriately informed about Council activities, decisions and services.  To provide some context, I would like to provide the accumulative statistics for 2016/2017 to 26 March:

• Media releases provided – 57
• Responses to media enquiries – 365
• Facebook social media posts – 518
• Facebook posts total reach – 890,104

Additionally, my fellow Councillors and I have regular contact with local media.  I have a weekly interview spot on the local radio stations of 1071AM, HitFM and CrowFM as well as regular interviews with ABC Radio, WinTV and Channel 7 on various matters all intended to inform the general public.

Corporate Risk Appetite Statement

It is good management practice for Council to develop a risk appetite statement to help us determine the types and amount of risk we are prepared to take to achieve our Corporate Plan and Operational Plans. The statement, as required by the external financial auditors, will also assist Council to determine the risks that are unacceptable.  The multifaceted process to develop the risk appetite statement has commenced with a workshop held in March.  In developing the risk appetite statement, Council will need to consider:

• Where our limited time and resources should be allocated to minimise our exposure to risk?
• What level of risk exposure requires immediate action and why?
• What level of risk requires a formal response strategy to mitigate the potential material impact and why?
• What events have occurred in the past and at what level were they managed and why?

The risk appetite statement will be finalised later this year in line with the development of Council’s Corporate Plan 2018-2023.

Disaster Management / Recovery

Recently, our community once again rallied together to prepare for a local disaster. On Wednesday 29 March, a severe weather warning was issued by the Bureau of Meteorology predicting Ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie rainfall for our region of 150-200mm with the possibility of 300mm falling within a 24hour period.  The South Burnett Local Disaster Management Group immediately commenced preparations putting in place contingency plans working behind the scenes so as to lead and support our community through the potential disaster.

The South Burnett received rainfall totals over a 48 hour period from between 120mm -180mm which resulted in localised flooding.  I would like to acknowledge the Deputy Mayor Councillor Kathy Duff for her leadership during this event, taking up the position of Chair of the Local Disaster Management Group.  I would also like to thank the members of the Group as the work undertaken by Queensland Police Service, Queensland Ambulance Service, State Emergency Service (SES), Queensland Fire and Rescue Service, Queensland Health, Ergon, Stanwell, Telstra, Department of Communities and Child Safety can be difficult and challenging during such events. 

Further, whilst our region’s infrastructure was not as heavily impacted as other regions within Queensland, the South Burnett community did suffer a loss of one of our own with the tragic death of Mr David Heidemann.  On behalf of Council, I offer my condolences to the family and friends of Mr Heidemann.