Scenic Living SCEN IC R
As this newsletter is going to print, we have just adopted the Scenic Rim Regional Council 2020-21 Budget, which is the first budget of this new term of Council. The budget was formulated against a challenging background of sequential disaster events culminating with the current COVID-19 pandemic, and is a budget that is for the whole of the Scenic Rim. The leaflet contained inside provides more information about the budget, and what it means for our community. Back in January, I shared my excitement about what 2020 could hold for the region after the challenges we faced during 2019 with drought and unprecedented bushfires. It’s hard to believe that, six months on, we are emerging from one of the most complex and challenging periods of the past century. COVID-19 has meant that we have all had to change to new ways of doing things. I am proud of the way Council employees quickly adapted the way they work and continued to provide a high level of services to our communities. In particular, compared to some other Councils, we managed to keep all our essential services operating and offered innovative solutions to our community, cultural and library programs. Our Council team – including new Councillors Cr Derek Swanborough, Cr Jeff McConnell and Cr Marshall Chalk – were sworn in by telephone confirming their commitment to working for the best of the whole of the Scenic Rim. I thank former Councillors Nadia O’Carroll, Nigel Waistell and Rick Stanfield for their valuable contributions during the 2016-2020 Council term. Since the start of this Council term, we adapted to COVID-19 requirements by using our website to provide live audio streams of Council’s Ordinary Meetings, and made subsequent recordings publicly available. I am proud of the way our communities have also responded to COVID-19. While it may seem as though disasters are the new normal for our region, we have shown that working together has made us stronger and more resilient as we build a brighter future.
IM REG 2020 Y L U IONAL COUN J CIL NEWSLET TER -
Council’s continued focus will be pushing on with our job creation program, which is the key goal of our Regional Prosperity Strategy. We will also be prioritising promoting our region to bring visitors back to support our heavily impacted tourism industry. Since the Queensland Government’s easing of COVID-19 restrictions, we have seen visitors flocking to the region, which confirms we live in the richest place on earth, and there is a strong desire to visit by those who want to share in the magic.
Our region has been tested but has shown exceptional resilience to stand together
We appreciate the Australian and Queensland Government’s bushfire and COVID-19 recovery funding will enable us to deliver projects we may not have previously been able to afford. These projects are critical to rebuilding our economy, providing community infrastructure and supporting community recovery, as well as creating and sustaining jobs for our local people. Liveability is key for our communities and in our new Scenic Rim Planning Scheme adopted earlier this year, we were able to keep future residential block sizes larger than those proposed in the South East Queensland Regional Plan, unlike many of our neighbouring councils. Our lobbying efforts with the Queensland Government were successful, and demonstrate Council’s commitment to maintaining our relaxed living and rural lifestyle.
Australian and Queensland Government funding for the Beaudesert Town Centre Revitalisation means that this significant project, which will take a couple of years to complete, will be almost fully funded. Upgrading our roads and bridges to make the region more accessible continues to be a key deliverable. Through generous funding from the Australian Government, we have been able to bring more of our bridges up to modern standards, improve flood protection, increase safety and reduce ongoing maintenance costs for Council in the long term. As mentioned earlier, in the months ahead, the major focus for Council will be on working with local people and businesses affected by bushfires and COVID-19 to help them get back on their feet. Recovery is not an easy process, nor is it quick. The emotional and financial impacts will take some time to ease, and the best thing we can all do as a community is to continue to support each other and our local businesses by shopping locally. While there may be dark clouds hovering, I believe our region has many opportunities to shine and I have confidence that our resilience, ingenuity and character will serve us well to move forward strongly through these challenging times. Let us move forward as One Scenic Rim and stand proud to support our region.
Mayor Greg Christensen
We are continuing our program to reinvigorate our communities through our Vibrant and Active Towns and Villages program with Boonah Town Centre expected to be completed by end of this year.
BE PREPARED FOR BUSHFIRE SEASON The approach of Queensland’s bushfire season in late July provides a timely reminder to Scenic Rim residents to prepare their properties and their families’ bushfire survival plans. Council’s disaster preparedness publication, Would You Be Ready?, available on Council’s website www.scenicrim.qld.gov.au/councilservices/disaster-management/disasterpreparedness and at Scenic Rim Libraries and Customer Service Centres, has been developed
specifically for the Scenic Rim community to understand the potential natural disasters faced by the region and how being prepared could minimise the impact of a bushfire, flood or cyclone. The brochure provides a bushfire season checklist for Scenic Rim residents to: • prepare a household emergency kit • c lear the yard of loose materials that may become wind-blown hazards
• c lear the roof and gutters of leaves and twigs etc. • if possible, make a firebreak around the home using a mower, rake or spade • remove all rubbish, leaf litter and native shrubs and branches growing too close to the house • keep grass short and green when possible • fit wire screens to doors, windows and vents and enclose all gaps, including roof eaves and the area under the house, and • e nsure garden hoses are able to reach all parts of the house and garden.