January 15, 2009 - The Silver Lining Foundation, operators of the Bahun Jal Mono project for indigenous youth and the Iron Bark Ridge Conference and Catering Centre near Wondai, has its eyes on the former Ficks Crossing Outdoor Recreation Centre.

The centre was closed by the Department of Sport and Recreation in March last year and was later handed over to the South Burnett Regional Council which has been considering its future uses.

The ABC has reported the Silver Lining Foundation hopes to receive the rights to set up an educational tourism business which could employ up to 20 people.

January 14, 2009 - South Burnett landowners who have a Nature Refuge or Land for Wildlife area on their property - or are think about registering for one - may be eligible for grants of up to $5000, but you'd better be quick!

Round 1 applications for funding under the Healthy Habitats scheme close on January 30. Grants of up to $10,000 are also be available for projects involved with protecting semi-evergreen vine thicket or brigalow-belah ecosystems.

For more information, visit the Better Burnett website or download the Expression of Interest Word document.

January 13, 2009 - AGL Energy Limited's acquisition in December of the proposed wind farm development project at Coopers Gap, near Kingaroy, is part of a larger strategy by the energy giant to develop a string of renewable energy projects to meet its obligations under the Federal Government's Renewable Energy Target (53kb PDF) (RET) Scheme.

"This transaction is consistent with our strategy of acquiring a pipeline of projects that will be at the bottom end of the cost curve and benefit from future uplifts in pricing," AGL Managing Director Michael Fraser said.

As well as the 300MW Coopers Gap project, AGL has purchased a 150MW windfarm project at Crows Nest, near Toowoomba, and seven other projects in NSW, Victoria and South Australia.

At the same time it has sold its interest in the Hallett 2 wind farm in South Australia to an investment trust managed by ANZ Infrastructure Services but is keeping control of the project's Renewable Energy Certificates and electricity output.

January 12, 2009 - Two companies, George Weston Foods (which owns the Don, KR Castlemaine and Watsonia brands) and Primo Smallgoods, have sought approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to purchase Hans Smallgoods, owners of Swickers Kingaroy Bacon.

However while the George Weston Foods bid is for all Hans' assets, the Primo bid specifically excludes Swickers and Hans' Blacktown facility. Ironically, Primo was recently lured to Queensland by the State Government (see story December 4, 2008).

The ACCC is seeking comments from interested parties on the two proposals until January 23.

For more information, visit the ACCC website:

• George Weston Foods Limited
  
• P & M Quality Smallgoods Pty Ltd (Primo)

FOOTNOTE: Despite all the economic gloom being touted by "experts", SBBiz is looking forward to a bigger and brighter 2009! During 2008, SBBiz had a total of 100,096 unique visitors to the website ... and this EXCLUDES the database queries. We'd like to thank everyone who assisted us during the past 12 months with information about new listings and updates. We couldn't do it without the support of the South Burnett community and we look forward to working with you during 2009.

December 12, 2008 - Southburnett.biz would like to wish all our readers a very happy and safe Christmas and a prosperous 2009!

The website will be running as usual over the holiday break so please continue to send in any updates or changes to business listings, however our news briefs will be taking a short break until January 12.

A huge thank you to everyone who has assisted us over the past 12 months!

Jon Stevens, right, along with James Reyne rocked Kingaroy at last night's CROW-FM Kingaroy Christmas Carnival. Don't forget, the Murgon Christmas Fair is on tonight from 5pm in the main street!

December 11, 2008 - A grant of $18,800 from Tarong Energy has enabled the Kingaroy Local Ambulance Committee to purchase a life-saving defibrillator for one of its first response ambulance vehicles

LAC President John Box said the Lifepak 12 unit would be used in one of the four first response ambulance vehicles based in Kingaroy. He said the LAC was committed to providing front line paramedics with state-of-the-art pre-hospital care equipment.

Earlier this year Tarong Energy provided funds for a Lifepak 12 for the Nanango Ambulance.

Earlier this year the Kingaroy LAC received a grant from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund to supply another Lifepak 12. The Queensland Ambulance Service matched the efforts of the Kingaroy LAC so now there will be defibrillators in all four first response ambulances in Kingaroy.

December 10, 2008 - Wide Bay Burnett Area Consultative Committee (WBBACC) Chairman Bill Trevor has announced he will step down from the voluntary role early in the New Year.

The former Isis Shire Mayor announced his decision to resign at a General Meeting held in Nanango last weekend. He had been WBBACC chairman for 12 years.

Executive Officer Cameron Bisley said the WBBACC was now awaiting the Federal Government’s announcement of plans for the regional body’s future and a possible transition to Regional Development Australia.

Read more on the WBBACC website.

December 9, 2008 - Jason Kinsella (Moffatdale Ridge) was re-elected president of the South Burnett Wine Industry Association at the group's Annual General Meeting held at Crane Wines in Booie last night.

Also re-elected unopposed were Vice-President Kevin Temperton (Bellbird Vineyards) and Secretary / Treasurer Paula Greenwood.

Delivering his president's report, Jason said he believed the outlook for the region's wine industry was "generally positive" after a tough few years during which local growers have had to deal with drought. The industry has also had to face up to the loss of several growers and wine industry operators due to the Kunioon mine project however he believed the worst was now over.

December 8, 2008 - The blackout in Kingaroy which forced many businesses to close early on Friday afternoon was caused by a fire which damaged a transformer at the Kingaroy substation.

An Ergon Energy spokesman said the power supply was cut to almost 3500 customers after an explosion about 4.10pm. The fire brigade assisted Ergon employees to gain access to the transformer to begin work to restore power to customers in Kingaroy, Kumbia, Ellesmere and Wooroolin.

Supply was progressively switched to two other feeder lines from 6.45pm and power was restored to all customers before 9.30pm. The Ergon spokesman said specialist substation crews would now assess the best way to deal with the damaged transformer.

Later on Friday night, about 370 customers in the Durong South and Gordonbrook areas also had their supply interrupted after a tree fell on high voltage lines during a storm. And yesterday afternoon, about 2000 customers in parts of Kingaroy, Nanango, Coolabunia and Wooroolin lost power due to another storm. About half of these customers had been switched to the affected line as a result of Friday’s damage at the Kingaroy substation.

December 5, 2008 - A new heavy vehicle rest area will be constructed on the Burnett Highway between Goomeri and Ban Ban Springs.

Main Roads Minister Warren Pitt said yesterday the rest area was part of the government's commitment to combat driver fatigue. He said managing heavy vehicle driver fatigue was one of Main Roads' key priorities and vital to reducing the State's road toll.

The Burnett Highway rest area will be constructed during the 2009-10 financial year from funds collected from speeding camera and red light camera fines.