Presidents Report 2017-2018

 

Welcome and thankyou for coming to the 2017 – 2018 MPCDB Annual General Meeting.

Well it has been a big year, and much has been accomplished.

 

Firstly, I would like to personally thank the Board, particularly the management committee

 

• Vice President Gavin Murray who with his tech knowledge set up and maintains our web site mtperrycdb.com
• Treasurer Keith Gear who with his previous business experience runs a tight ship and makes sure everything we do is as our constitution is written – a stickler for detail which has served us well in this formative year.
• Secretary Maryann Nicholsen who manages to get everything down at meetings despite the fast paced banter that generally takes place.

 

Thanks guys for your support and dedication over the past year. It has been rewarding working with you.

 

The Mt. Perry Community Development Board

For those of you who are not familiar with the function of the Board and its formation, here’s a little history.

The MPCDB actually finds its roots with the Mt. Perry Development Group which, under the auspices of the Heritage and Tourist association was formed some 5-6 years ago. A group of concerned locals formed the group to see what could be done in Mt. Perry to enhance its social and economic sustainability into the future. The prospect of “end of life” at the previously Newcrest owned Mt. Rawdon gold mine, now owned by Evolution Mining, was perhaps the driving force behind this.

 

A few years on, it became apparent that in order to progress some of the work done by the group, it had to unite Mt. Perry in all its diversity and become a representative for all groups, clubs, associations and businesses in the town and indeed the region as a whole.

 

It was at this point in March 2017 that a community meeting was held to determine the direction of the Group and what form it should take. A guest speaker, Mr. Richard Cooley who has been involved in developing rural areas, particularly in the Diamantina Shire, outlined the need for the Group to become an entity in its own right. As the Mt. Perry Community Development Board Inc, it would become the over arching body which could then, having the support of the entire community, lobby councils, Local and State governments, relevant funding providers even Federal governments and be the “VOICE” of the community.

 

Support from the community was overwhelming. Over 50 people attended this first meeting and a vote was taken to move forward with the application to incorporate the association. A steering committee was formed, a constitution was decided upon and the application was submitted in June 2017. The Mt. Perry Community Development Board was officially Incorporated in September 2017.

 

FRRR , TTTT and the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation

While the application was pending, the steering committee, consisting of myself, Clive Dingle, Maryann Nicholsen, Anita Ward, Les Murphy and Irene Duda with the help of Richard Cooley, identified the need to develop a strategic economic plan for Mt. Perry and the region.

 

At the time there was funding available through the Funding Rural and Regional Renewals “Tackling Tough Times Together Program.

An application was drafted and with supporting letters from the community (20 in total), a pledge of $1500 from Evolution Mining and $1500 from the Bendigo Bank should we be successful, it was submitted.

A seemingly endless wait ensued with lots of forwards / backwards conversations and supporting documents being considered by the TTTT board until finally the news came through…we had been successful. Through the generosity of the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation, the Mt. Perry Heritage and Tourist Association (as the MPCDB had not yet received its incorporation) received a $15,000 grant to develop a strategic economic plan for Mt. Perry.

 

EarthCheck Consultants

It was at this time that the highly sought after and regarded Earthcheck consulting firm was employed to guide the community in developing “The Plan”.

In September 2017 Mark Olsen from Earthcheck visited Mt. Perry and consulted with the community on the 27^th. Again, support was amazing with over 40 people attending. Mark was brilliant and ideas came flooding forth. The evening was truly inspiring and set the stage for the next step. Mark sent through a draft copy of the plan which was considered by the now incorporated Board and more community consultation took place. A second community meeting was held in February where the most important and “doable” projects were identified. Champions for the top 4 projects were identified and finally we were on our way.

 

The 4 top projects identified were

 

• Town Branding and Signage
• Maynard Park Upgrade / Town Beautification
• Low Cost / Free Camping
• Road to Mingo Crossing

 

A copy of the complete Mt. Perry Strategic Plan is available for download on our website.

A big thankyou to the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation.

A big thankyou to Evolution Mining for their community focus, particularly GM Bernie Cleary and CM Mark Eftim who backed us all the way.

A big thankyou to Bendigo Bank who through their focus on community helped make this possible.

 

Town Branding and Signage 

• Melbourne cup signs
• Smelter site sign
• Mark Emsden Sign

 

Free / Low Cost Camping

• Earthchecks “Queensland Camping Options Toolkit”
• Developments so far ie caravan park, council, private investment (Mark Emsden)

 

Maynard Park Upgrade / Town Beautification

• Leopard Tank Upgrade – Q100 Lasting Legacies unsuccessful but hopefully an application to the Community Benefit Fund will be successful
• Joint funding project with Gidargil Corporation success. Special thanks to Gordon King.
• 10 trainees 1-2 days per week in Mt. Perry.
• Maynard Park Levi
• Mens Shed and smelter site beautification

 

Road to Mingo and Byrnestown (Ken)

• 850 petitions collected
• Mayor Rachel Chambers gave to Jeff Seeney to table in Parliament but won’t be considered because they don’t satisfy any criteria
• Mayor Rachel has argued that any criteria must include the potential for incidents and potential tragedies.
• MPCDB designed incident reports to table these potential tragedies. These have been collected and the results being collated
• Ian and Kym Tye’s son Rhett tragically lost his life on this road due to its degraded condition. They have been tirelessly fighting to have the road sealed and have been the driving force behind the gathering momentum.
• On Monday 2^nd July a meeting was held at the site of the tragedy, just south of mingo. The Shadow minister Steve Minnikin for transport attended as did Collin Boyce, Member for Callide, Ken O’Dowd, Member for Flynn, Mayor Rachel Chambers and Myself.
• The meeting was effective with main roads now erecting signs on hazardous bends and rough surfaces.
• Unfortunately this does not stop the surfaces from quickly deteriorating after grades.
• A meeting with the Director of Main Roads Neil Scales is scheduled for the 16^th of this month.
• A meeting with the Transport Minister is scheduled for the 22^nd
• At the end of the day we need to make noise. We are not an electorate with voting power. There are 1000’s of km of gravel roads in Queensland crying out for funding. It comes down to the community and how much we value our sons, daughters, parents and friends. Get on the phone or write a letter…it all adds to the weight.

 

• On the flip side there is also the economic value. It would make an enormous difference to the traffic and potential visitors to this town. Don’t just think about it, put pen to paper or make that phone call.

 

 

Mandy Bird
Principal Executive Coordinator
Office Of The Director-General | Department of Transport and Main Roads

 

Floor 35 | 1 William Street | Brisbane Qld 4000
GPO Box 1549 | Brisbane Qld 4001
P: (07) 30667117| F: (07) 30667122
M: 0431 515 698
E: mandy.l.bird@tmr.qld.gov.au
W: www.tmr.qld.gov.au

 

Deyarn Williams
Senior Communications Advisor | Wide Bay Burnett District / Bundaberg Office
Program Delivery & Operations Branch | Department of Transport and Main Roads

 

Floor 1 | Bundaberg Main Roads Building | 23 Quay Street | Bundaberg Qld 4670
Locked Bag 486 | Bundaberg Qld 4670
P: (07) 41540258 | F: (07) 41523878
E: deyarn.e.williams@tmr.qld.gov.au
W: www.tmr.qld.gov.au

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gidargil (Ken and maybe Gordon)

• A little bit about Gordon
• The potential for continued funding
• The possibility of a joint venture between The MPCDB, Evolution and NBRC

 

Evolution (Ken and Maybe Jamie)

• Introduce Jamie

 

 

 

 

Summary

 

As you can see there’s a bit going on.

In order to keep the momentum of the last year going, there needs to be community involvement.

Its your community, it is up to you.

 

Thanks, Ken