Welcome to this week’s Mayor’s Update. Each week, we aim to keep you informed about the latest Council developments, events, and initiatives. Your engagement and feedback are always appreciated. Contact details are available at the end of this update if you would like to get in touch with myself or another divisional councillor.
Monto 100-year Centenary Celebrations
Monto celebrated their 100-year centenary over the long weekend, with thousands of people joining together to enjoy the festivities. The weekend kicked off with cocktails and canapes on Friday night at the Monto Racecourse, followed by the main street festival and celebration on Saturday.
Saturday’s events were well supported by locals and visitors, with organisers of the centenary celebrations officially opening the 100-year celebrations with a cake cutting. Highlights of the weekend included the opening of the Monto Museum of Art honour board, live mural painting by The Zookeeper and Drapl, and the planting of a Queensland bottle tree in Monto Memorial Park. The Quilters Group exhibited “Craft Through the Ages,” which was an impressive display of quilts, dolls, garments, wedding photos, and memorabilia.
Many businesses, community groups, and schools entered creative floats and vehicles for the street parade. Congratulations to Ridgehaven, whose float was awarded best on theme; Monto Garden Club, who took home the best decorated float; Monto Circus Stunts, whose float received the most humorous award; and finally, to Mulgildie State School, who was awarded the crowd favourite float.
On Sunday, the Monto Historical Centre held a successful Heritage Day. Monto’s pioneering families were recognised by the unveiling of a special plaque identifying farming families from 1924 – 2024. There was plenty of family entertainment, such as whip cracking competitions, blacksmithing and gold stamping demonstrations, damper making, and cooee competitions.
I would like to thank all organisers and volunteers for their contributions, time, and effort, as well as the vendors, locals, and visitors that made the events truly memorable.
Show Holidays 2025
The Minister for State Development and Infrastructure, Minister for Industrial Relations, and Minister for Racing, has appointed special holidays for 2025 to formalise the region’s show holidays.
The dates are:
- 09 May 2025 – Mundubbera Area – for the purpose of the Mundubbera Annual Show.
- 11 August 2025 – The remainder of the North Burnett Region – (Biggenden, Eidsvold, Gayndah, Mount Perry, and Monto Areas) for the purpose of the Royal Queensland Show.
Red Earth’s Big Map Event
Red Earth Community Foundation, in collaboration with Disaster Relief Australia, invited key stakeholders, emergency services, and local government representatives to Gayndah on 4 October 2024 to walk on a giant floor map of the Burnett catchment. The exercise was an opportunity to see our communities profiled from a birds-eye view.
The Big Map exercises are a tool to help identify areas at risk and how we can better mitigate and ease the impacts of disaster on livelihoods, infrastructure, homes, and businesses. It provides an opportunity to discuss roles and responsibilities and how to operationalise as events unfold, assisting to identify gaps in infrastructure and emergency management plans.
In conjunction with the Big Map Events, Council Disaster Management Officers are visiting communities to listen to your stories and collect information about your experience with flooding in the North Burnett. The more we understand about flood risks within our catchment, the better prepared our community will be to respond to future floods.
Council encourages anyone with historical information about flooding in the North Burnett to take part and share their knowledge, whether it’s photos and video or simply memories of flood behaviour, e.g. how fast the water rose in a particular area or how it impacted your property.
Visit www.northburnett.qld.gov.au/north-burnett-regional-council-flood-resilience-projects-community-input/ for more information.
Council General Meeting – Councillor Portfolios
Recently, Council resolved to allocate councillor portfolios. Portfolios allow a nominated councillor to undertake activities relative to a core pillar of Council’s strategic planning framework and provide relevant input on matters related to the portfolio’s focus.
At Council’s General Meeting on Wednesday, 25 September 2024, the following councillor portfolios and proxy/assistants were adopted:
| Portfolio | Portfolio Councillor | Proxy / Assistant Councillor |
| Water and Waste | Cr Susan Payne | Cr Moira Thompson |
| Roads and Infrastructure | Cr Michael Dingle | Cr Trina Vaughan |
| Arts, Sports and Recreation | Cr Renee McGilvery | Cr Trina Vaughan, Cr Moira Thompson and Cr Melinda Jones |
| Economic Development, Community and Tourism | Cr Melinda Jones | Cr Trina Vaughan, Cr Renee McGilvery and Cr Moira Thompson |
Civil Works Schedule
Below is the maintenance schedule for week commencing 7 October 2024 – weather permitting.
Maintenance Grading –
- Zone 1: Monal Road and Goodys Road
- Zone 2: Folley Gully Road
- Zone 3: Aberfeldie Road, Jones Road and Netz North Branch Road
- Zone 4: Harpurs Hill Road
- Zone 5: Redbank Road and Yerilla Road
- Zone 6: Emergent works on Wilkes Road
- Zone 7: Emergent works on Swains Road and Haileys Road
- Zone 8: Emergent works on Millers Road and North Pattens Road
Construction Crew –
- North: Monto – Biloela Road – Pavement Repairs
- South: Maryborough Biggenden – Shoulder Repairs (RMPC)
Councillor Contacts
As always, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me directly on 0458 696 272, or cr.les.hotz@northburnett.qld.gov.au or your Divisional Councillor, if you would like to address any concerns. Our contact details can be found on Council’s website: https://northburnett.qld.gov.au/meet-your-councillors.