EXPRESS The
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Locally owned and proudly independent
Ready, set, wheelbarrow Hundreds of locals are set to converge on Byrnes Street this Friday morning for the start of the annual Great Wheelbarrow Race. And race organising committee chairman Nipper Brown (pictured) couldn’t be more chuffed, hoping to see a repeat of the whopper $243,000 raised by competitors for charities last year. “They are doing wonderful things for charity,” he said. “The feeling you get, the sense of achievement, when people reach the other end...is just unbelievable.” Turn to pages 4 and 5 for more on the 2016 Great Wheelbarrow Race.
Can you afford to die? By Michael Serenc
MAREEBA Shire ratepayers could cop an increase of more than $450 for burying their loved ones under a new set of cemetery fees and charges approved by council.
The majority of new fees and charges, which take effect at the start of the 2016/17 financial year, have been increased from the previous 2015/16 list. That includes the cost of reserving a plot of land for a free-standing mausoleum, which is now $3867, up by $452 over the previ-
ous financial year. But Mareeba Shire Mayor Tom Gilmore defended the price rise, telling The Express council was running its 10 cemeteries at a loss and needed to recover costs. “We are still subsidising our cemeteries con-
siderably and we still haven’t got full cost recovery,” he said. “The cost of the provision of cemetery services is quite extraordinary, because first of all, you have to have the land, then you have to maintain it.” CONTINUED PAGE 3
What’s New at Amaroo? Brand new stage Selling Now! Debbie Sweedman debbie@amarooestate.com.au
Residential Land
0409 321 000
www.amarooestate.com.au