COMMUNITY unrest about increases to fire levies is set to ignite community meetings in Dundowran tomorrow.

Recent meetings in Toogoom and Booral between local residents and representatives of the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service have been the scene of angry exchanges.

Substantial hikes to the fire levy paid by home owners in the outlying suburbs of Hervey Bay is driving discontent along with the fear that rural fire brigades will be robbed of funding.

Ratepayers will be charged a $161 levy which will go to the urban brigades operated by the QFRS.

In areas affected by the boundary change, this will replace the old $25 rural subsidy that went to rural brigades.

A QFRS spokesman said costs increased because urban district boundaries were extended to enhance people’s safety and increased levels of service required increased funding.

Hervey Bay District Rural Fire Brigade Group chairman Denis Dack said the change could force rural brigades in Toogoom, Booral, Craignish, Nikenbah and Dundowran to close.

“The $25 levy funded those local brigades, but with the changes, rural services in those areas will receive nothing. It will go to QFRS,” Mr Dack said.

“We are not disputing that some of those areas now need urban trucks, but we think the fee should be shared to enable us to continue operating.”

He said urban trucks could not attend fires on soft ground and claimed people’s safety was at risk if rural groups were closed.

Fraser Coast Regional Council Mayor Mick Kruger said the region relied on rural services.

“We are asking the QFRS to subsidise because the rural fire levy will cease and those people will have to pay an urban fire levy instead. We won’t be getting any rural levy,” he said.

The next community meeting will be held at Dundowran Hall tomorrow at 6.15pm.

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EVERYTHING from cooking gear to electrical goods – and maybe even the kitchen sink – will be on sale when Fraser Coast Meals On Wheels cleans out its old premises on Saturday.

After years of fundraising, the organisation recently moved to a new kitchen in Pialba and is holding a garage sale to empty out its former home.

“Besides the kitchen equipment, we also have furniture, electrical goods, books, plants and more for sale at a reasonable price,” Hervey Bay Community Help Group treasurer Barbara Watson said.

“There’s a little bit of everything for everyone and I’m sure people will go home happy.”

Mrs Watson said Meals on Wheels moved to 39A Islander Rd a couple of months ago as the old kitchen was too small.

“We were putting out thousands of meals a week and it just became too difficult to cope in the tiny little kitchen,” Mrs Watson said.

“I have made sandwiches out in their garage because there wasn’t room in the kitchen.”

Mrs Watson said the new kitchen on Islander Rd was bigger, better and clients were happier.

“It’s six times bigger which gives us so much more room,” she said.

The garage sale will be held on Saturday, August 2, at Meals on Wheels former premises at 2 Gossner St, Scarness, from 7am.

A FAMILIAR sight around the Bay will soon be no more – Denis Dack is selling his prized Royal Enfield motorbike and sidecar.

A former New South Wales police traffic motorcyclist, Mr Dack said the rare 500cc Electra was more a steady goer than a speed machine and he had only done 25,500km since he purchased the bike two years ago.

“It’s a very rare bike around here,” Mr Dack said.

“I bought the bike in Perth and the side car from Alice Springs.”

Mr Dack said he had the bike assembled locally in Hervey Bay but finding a matching sidecar for the fiery maroon bike proved tricky.

“I knew I wanted a side- car,” he said.

“They come in any colour you like – as long as it’s black. So I had it painted in Hervey Bay to match.”

Mr Dack said it wasn’t a popular decision with his extended family when he told them he was going to make the sale about the $9950 mark.

As a member of the Royal Enfield Motorcycle Club, he was unsure about new changes to the law that would affect bike enthusiasts.

“I don’t want it to just sit in the garage,” he said.

https://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/news/iconic-royal-enfield-off-a-new-home/2081053/

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RURAL fire brigades are worried any changes to fire levies could signal the beginning of their demise.

Group officer Don Duffus of the Hervey Bay Rural Fire Brigade Group said ratepayers in rural residential areas currently paid a $28 levy for fire protection in the Fraser Coast.

He said the same residents would be asked for an additional $90 from January 1, next year.

The money is part of the new Emergency Management and Fire Levy.

Mr Duffus claimed those ratepayers would see no benefit in services from that fee.

Fraser Coast Mayor Gerard O’Connell said last month he was unhappy at not being consulted about the additional charge to ratepayers.

On Wednesday, he told the Chronicle no assurance could be offered to rural fire groups until the budget was adopted.

But he said he anticipated rural services would continue to get their funding distributed to them from the council for the next 12 months – beyond that there were no committments.

“I, for one, want to have a pretty serious conversation with the State Government in the course of the next year to make sure rural fire brigades do not miss out by this double dipping,” Cr O’Connell said.

Mr Duffus said the Gold Coast City Council had recently shown its displeasure, announcing it would stop collecting the rural fire levy for the State Government, also accussing it of double-dipping.

He said he worried if the state controlled the distribution of the funds services would be worse off.

The State Government commits to provide rural fire brigades with

• Minimum 80% of the full cost of appliances-trucks
• Minimum 50% of the cost of equipment listed in the Rural Fire Service Equipment Catalogue
• Personal protective equipment and radio equipment at no cost
• Fire station construction grants of up to $10,000
• Rural operations staff to assist with command, control and coordination at major incidents or those that span several brigade or group boundaries
• Workcover insurance
• Firecare, workplace health and safety
• All training materials
• All operational and administrative training

HEART attack victim Denis Dack was lying on a stretcher in pouring rain after midnight when he saw first-hand the lack of medical facilities at Hervey Bay Airport.

His family looked on through the chain wire fence as he was lifted into an aircraft and rushed to Brisbane for emergency surgery.

During recovery from a triple bypass operation he decided that something should be done about the lack of infrastructure.

A year later a new patient transfer hangar was operational at Hervey Bay Airport thanks to the tireless efforts of Mr Dack and the community groups he enlisted to see the project through.

At least five Royal Flying Doctor aircraft now use the facility each day for treatment and transfer of patients.

Mr Dack’s efforts were recognised when he received the Australia Day Citizen of the Year award at a ceremony held in Maryborough’s city hall yesterday.

“I’m thrilled to receive the award,” Mr Dack said. “But a lot of others helped with this project and it’s not over yet.”

Mr Dack, not one to shy away from a challenge, is now working to expand the Hervey Bay Meals on Wheels headquarters.

He said the current kitchen provided 65,000 meals per year and fed 300 local families per week.

“We are now trying to raise $400,000 to build a kitchen 20 times the size of the current one,” he said.

Gloria and Vince Chay received the joint Maryborough Australia Day Citizen of the Year award for dedication and commitment to the community.

Ms Chay said she was honoured and overwhelmed.

“We were so thrilled to even be selected.

“To be put up here with all the people who work to make Maryborough a better place is such an honour.”

The two are district Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators and have been long-term volunteers at the Brolga Theatre.

Mr and Mrs Chay are regularly seen helping out at events in and around Maryborough.

They dedicate their lives to making the community a better place and accumulate “a phenomenal amount of volunteer hours each year”.

Other Australia day award winners included Maryborough’s RACQ Technology Challenge and Hervey Bay’s Family Easter fun day, receiving the gong for providing “residents and visitors entertainment and relaxation”.

Australia Day Sportsperson of the Year award recipients were Rebecca Darby from Hervey Bay, Barry Brunke from Maryborough, Tiaro’s Trevor Keightley and Bill Brand of Woocoo.

Mayor Mick Kruger presented a total of 28 awards to recipients from Hervey Bay and Maryborough as well as the Tiaro and Woocoo districts.