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August 1, 2024 14 mins

This week we check out the $450-million resort approved for Hervey Bay

A new project to drive down loneliness 

A major sporting event locked in for Bundaberg

And the Gympie CWA turns 100.

 

 

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ihab White bay Burnett.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Welcome to Iheartmied bay Burnette, your local news fix. I'm
Taylor Larson, joined by Bruce Atkinson on today's episode.

Speaker 3 (00:10):
The project connecting young adults to their community and.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
What's kept a local organization going for a century.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
Starting on the Fraser Coast and a four hundred and
fifty million dollar resort in Harvey Bay will bring massive
benefits to the entire region, according to its supporters. Fraser
Coast Councilors approve the shere It and resort six folks
to five, with the mayor opposed, who argued it doesn't
fit with the region's identity. It includes hundreds of hotel
rooms and units over two towers on the esplanade. It

(00:36):
was reduced from twenty one to eighteen stories. Deputy Mayor
Paul Truscott back to the project for.

Speaker 4 (00:42):
The business itself, that's there in the people that it
will bring to the region. There the fact that we'll
have a facility that doctors and specialists and high flying
business executives that want to come to the region. We
need that. We want to have more international tourists visiting.
We want to have more housing diversity and less sort
of over fifties villages, because we don't want to become

(01:04):
the retirement capital of Australia. We want younger people to
stay here in the region. We've just secured flights to Melbourne.
We want to make sure that we can secure that
long term and potentially open up other routes. I think
also to the number of jobs that it will create,
not only in the construction phase, but also the ongoing
running of the businesses contained within the building, and then

(01:24):
the economic spillover that that will have to other existing
local businesses surrounding it on the Esplanade, throughout the Bay
and even throughout the whole region. So I think if
people are coming there and staying there, they're going to
come and visit other parts of the region that we've
got to offer as well.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
Among other things, opponents are concerned about sediment runoff, light
pollution for Turtles, and its height. It's three times higher
than the next biggest building on the Esplanade. That counts.
Trust God is confident all conditions will be met by
the developer.

Speaker 4 (01:52):
And in some cases I personally don't think those issues
will be issues. I mean, even things like in the
report talked about having turtle sensitive life lighting, so that
that shouldn't be an issue. Director of Development Planning also
mentioned about how lighting from so for example, if there was,
for an example, an over fifties village built that had
the same amount of housing in it, but it was
in a sprawl, and like, we're currently getting constant cookie

(02:15):
cutter developments of the same thing that that actually creates
more light than a single development of this nature would do.
So there's already more damage in other things like that happening.
Things like they talk about the shadow going out over
the ocean, which is not the case because it's north facing,
so there wouldn't be a shadow going that direction. Things

(02:36):
like when they talk about water runoff, all the water
that comes from this application, from the development is treated
on site before it goes So I think there's all
of those sort of conditions in place that should negate
any of those potential negative effects.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
The local ambassador for environmental group Coral Watch is Angry
Zally Mature, claims council planners and the councilors who supported
the project ignored its environmental impact.

Speaker 5 (03:02):
To them, the dark skycode and significance of our marine
ecosystems simply did not exist. They along with the developer,
merely considered they are there to be capitalized upon for
the economy and the best view of the ocean and
access to the beach. I think the people would assume
that our council would have required a thorough environmental assessment
before passing this landmark development, but that simply isn't true,

(03:24):
And the truth is that the only assessment conducted was
the one which is mandated under the Dark Skycode, and
even this was hugely flawed by the inclusion of seriously
outdated and endangered loggerhead turtle activity data and the inflated
distance to turtle and shore bird nesting and habitat sites
in order to minimize the appearance of any.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
Impact councilor Trustcott believes locals overwhelmingly support the development.

Speaker 4 (03:48):
In most cases where we are considering a development application,
it's really the negatives that we hear from the people
supporting it. Generally don't make comment. If we had one
hundred submissions on an application, that would probably be considered
a lot. In this case, there was just under three
thousand submissions, of which over two thirds were in favor,

(04:08):
which is just phenomenal as it's unprecedented for what we've
seen at council.

Speaker 3 (04:13):
However, Zarie Mitchell doesn't agree.

Speaker 5 (04:15):
We've had an overwhelming amount of responses that are supporting
our side for the environmental argument and also the people
who are outraged at the way that the character and
amenity of Hubby Bay will change significantly because of this development.
People who've lived here since they were born. We've had
heaps of people telling us that they agree with us,

(04:38):
and they especially some of the older people haven't had
the platform that a lot of the younger generation on
Facebook has to have been so vocal about it.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
As social media tries to make us feel more connected
than ever, young adults are actually feeling more disconnected. That's
especially the case when it comes to someone's place in
their community. Doom scrolling or watching others experiences through a
phone is more convenient. Angela Twiford is the co founder
of Wide Bay Kids. Her team has joined a local
content creator for Social three sixty five.

Speaker 6 (05:12):
So we're wanting to share inspiring stories from underderg based
social community and sporting groups and how they're helping their
members feel more connected and excited about being involved in
the community.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
It was inspired by TikTok trend Social sixty by Wayside Chapel.

Speaker 6 (05:29):
Which is promoting sixty minutes of social contact every day.
So we looked at our community and we saw people
who we know are feeling lonely or isolated, and we're
trying to encourage those people to connect with someone or
somewhere in their community. For three hundred and sixty five

(05:50):
days a year.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
Ten local groups will be showcased through social media, videos
and articles to demonstrate exactly who they are and what
they do. Social three six is aimed at people up
to the age of thirty five.

Speaker 6 (06:03):
We're trying to give groups the ability to showcase what
they do differently. You know, some groups don't have people
who can create video contents for them, or they may
not realize the impact that they actually have on people's
lives from day to day. As we know that once
someone sits down and has a conversation, whether it's over

(06:25):
a soccer match, whether it's the person participating or the
people on the sidelines. As soon as groups support their
members actually make a huge impact on their members' lives.
We're hoping, you know, just one person will view one
of our videos or read one of our articles and
feel inspired to reconnect with the community.

Speaker 3 (06:48):
Coming up after the break, the major competition coming to
the region and a milestone for the CWA.

Speaker 7 (06:54):
I have.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
You're listening to iheartwed Bay Bernier teim Taylor Larson joined
by Bruce Atkinson. A massive boost for netball in Bunderberg
with the local school securing a major competition next year.
The twenty fifth Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball Carnival or Quissen,
will be held in Bundy from June twenty nine, with
the final on July five. Principle of Shloam College, Dan

(07:24):
McMahon says, it's a huge event.

Speaker 1 (07:27):
It's the biggest student netball carnival of its like in
Australia and we're expecting something approaching eighty teams here next year,
sixty odd girls teams and up to twenty boys teams.
So the introduction of boys in the last couple of
years has been a significant addition and great benefit to
the carnival. So it's a lot of young people coming

(07:48):
to Bunderberg next year for the Netball Carnival, so we're
really excited to host this again. This will be Shalom's
third effort at hosting the carnival. We hosted the initial
carnival in the year year two thousand when we started
with i think six teams. We hosted again in twenty
nineteen for the twenty year anniversary of the carnival, and
next year is the twenty fifth. It's a wonderful carnival.

(08:10):
It's a sensational opportunity for young people to play netball
and it'll be a huge boost to the town and
the local economy.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
Up to nine hundred players will be playing across the
eight divisions. Teams from the Southeast dominated at this year's event,
so Bundy supporters are hoping a home ground advantage will
pay off. If you want to get involved, get in
touch with Dan.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
We'll have a lot of our people helping make sure
this runs well, so we'll be looking for volunteers from
parents and staff and the local community. And I'm sure
the local netball community, which is strong here in Bunderberg,
will get behind this. So it's a great community builder
for us. It's a chance to show off Bunderberg, which
we're really pleased about given that one of the challenges

(08:52):
with Quizin and the size it is is that anyone
hosting the carnival needs to be able to provide at
least six indoor or undercover courts, which is becoming a
challenge as we move the carnival around the state. We're
able with the help of the Bunderberg Regional Council. At Multiplex,
we've got four courts there and we'll have three courts

(09:13):
here at Chalam, so it'll be split over the two venues.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
Blunderberg Regional Council is providing five thousand dollars to help
the school host That will go.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
Towards paying the cost of the higher of those the
Multiplex courts, so it really is a big boost for
us as an as a host school to being able
to put it on here successfully.

Speaker 3 (09:37):
The Country Women's Association has worked tirelessly in Gimpy for
one hundred years. The local organization marked it's centenary last
week and a big celebration has planned for September. I
wanted to find out if its role has changed over time,
so I caught up with GIMPECWA president Wendy flick Word.

Speaker 7 (09:53):
You've got to remember up until probably about ten twenty
years ago, CWA, which your main provider of all sorts
of functions. You know, they would cater weddings, they would
cater funerals. They were the ones who if there was
an emergency, they would be the ones catering seewiches and
that because we didn't have the other sort of groups

(10:14):
that do it now and back then your pubs and
that didn't supply meals. They also had hostels where waiting mothers,
like spectant mothers could go there a week or so
before their due date and be in town in case
they got caught out in the country somewhere and couldn't
make it in in time. Later on, the hostels became

(10:35):
places where students, girls and boys could stay during the
week while they went to school.

Speaker 3 (10:41):
So it's a range of activities.

Speaker 7 (10:43):
Catering, looking after the community. It's where they sort of
always were there. I remember when I got married and
I got married in Kiroi, the cwa were the ones
who catered my wedding. They also had restrooms where you
could take children during the days, take them to the toilets,
because again public toilets weren't thought of back in the

(11:06):
early days. So you could take your child there to
take to the toilet, or you could breastfeed them. Things
like that. You could go there, have a cup of
tea and then go on with your shopping or go home.

Speaker 8 (11:17):
It shows you the range of activities and things you
take for granted now that someone had to provide. It
was a CWA before you could get these services.

Speaker 7 (11:25):
You didn't have your Red Cross and that that used
to cater for emergencies. They were there to help wounded
and that sort of thing. You didn't have your Salvation
Army that would go out. That was all done by
your CWA ladies.

Speaker 3 (11:42):
So what are you doing now to keep yourselves busy?

Speaker 7 (11:45):
Now? Basically the same thing. We're still catering. We cater
for a lot of functions in town, like meetings more
than weddings, and that we just recently in June had
a bus from down the coast come up. They took
their passengers out on the Mary Vale Rattler and when
they came home they came to us for luncheon.

Speaker 8 (12:04):
As the organization changed much in the last one hundred years,
or is it still doing the same core functions.

Speaker 7 (12:11):
It's still doing the same core functions, which if you
look at our motto, it goes that it's for country women,
through country women, by country women and basically it's kept
those same core but to survive it does have to change,
and they're in the process to changing our dynamics a

(12:31):
little bit more as to what we're.

Speaker 8 (12:33):
About and what we do and how's that going down.
You opened to change within the community or within the
CWA and new ideas, new ways of doing things.

Speaker 7 (12:42):
Well, it depends on the age of the person. Some
of the ladies who have been there for quite some
time may be a little resistant, but all in all,
they do understand that change is needed for CWA to
survive in this world.

Speaker 3 (12:57):
I imagine it's also been over the years, those one
hundred years. It's a meeting place for women to talk
about things, camaraderie, companionship, support.

Speaker 7 (13:06):
And that's exactly how it started and why it was started.
It was companionship for women who may not see anybody else,
and back then they might have only met once a month,
so you might have seen anybody else to talk to
in that month. So to get together once a month
to see these friends that you have made to talk
over your problems. And we still do that a lot now.

(13:29):
We go for a craft day or something and we
might end up just having coffee and talking you know,
if somebody's got an issue and they would like to
put it out there and maybe ask for help, We're
only too happy to listen and to try to give
what advice we can.

Speaker 8 (13:45):
Wendy set the scene for me. I've been invited to
a morning t catered by the CWA. What are the
staples on the menu?

Speaker 7 (13:52):
Scones? Where now on for scones? You don't have scones,
people say, but I was looking forward to SCons. We
do a morning tea the third Wednesday of every month
where we invite the public to come along and there's
always on your plate a scone with jam and cream.
There might be a couple of different slices or a

(14:15):
piece of cake or a scone with it, but there
is always your scone.

Speaker 3 (14:21):
Great.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
Well, thanks for that, Bruce. Now you've made me a
package for some SCons and a Kappa.

Speaker 3 (14:26):
That's all for this week, Taylor. If you want to
hear this episode again or search for previous ones, look
up iHeart White Babe Burnette on the iHeartRadio app or
wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 2 (14:35):
Jane in again next week for more local, trusted and
free news.

Speaker 3 (14:39):
I have
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