PEAK industry bodies including the Hervey Bay Chamber of Commerce and the Fraser Coast Property Industry Association have written to the Minister for State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning Steven Miles, to acknowledge their support for the Fraser Coast Regional Council.
The Fraser Coast Regional Council has flatly rejected the draft Wide Bay Burnett Regional Plan.
The overriding issue has been the lack of consultation, which has been defined as narrow and limited.
The Hervey Bay Chamber describes the plan as flawed and FCPIA lacks confidence in the current direction.
The consensus is the Wide Bay Burnett Regional Plan does not in any way represent the needs of Hervey Bay as a part of the Fraser Coast region, despite its position as one the fastest growing regions in the country.
The draft plan purports to have a strong focus on attracting and retaining people in the region, promoting workforce opportunities, enhancing the region’s existing economic strengths while growing emerging industries, and reinforcing the region’s positive reputation for liveability and community.
It strives to achieve this by providing a strengthened economic strategy for the region and identifying integrated land use and infrastructure planning responses, including actions to be delivered over the short, medium and long term.
Our brightest local minds disagree.
The reason this is important to all of us, is this strategic outlook plan stretches decades into the future.
FCRC is firmly on the front foot, rejecting the plan with a belief that the draft Regional Plan does not represent an accurate or complete vision for the Wide Bay Burnett region and does not contain the foundations to address the region’s challenges or unlock the region’s significant opportunities.
They equally believe the current draft plan creates more problems than it solves, it is a net negative for the Fraser Coast region and it should not be endorsed or adopted by the State Government.
I’ve been in the local media here for a very long time and it’s a very rare occasion that you see all industry bodies on the same page with the same view.
The draft is an interesting read. To read more visit: