Update - 16 February 2010

BAG NEWS ….

Congratulations to our 2009 Christmas Light competition winners:
Best Residential Kerslake Family
Best Commercial Mitchell Café
Best Tree Marlene Harris
People’s Choice Mitchell Auto Care.

Community Workshops – Last week we had our 3rd community workshop, this one was on Time Management. The series of workshops being delivered are designed for community members who are actively involved in not for profit community groups who want to further develop their skills to be effective committee members, wish to see the continued development and growth of the Booringa community, and want to seek new opportunities for personal development. We had a new participant join last week, so it is not too late if you would still like to participate. All workshop participants will receive a resource kit full of practical resources for use in their community groups. You may choose to participate in one, some or all of the workshops. Participants who complete all 5 workshops will be awarded a Statement of Attainment for the accredited training competency BSBPMG510A Manage Projects. Catch up is possible! These workshops are free for community members. The development and delivery of this program has been made available by the State Department of Employment, Economic Development and innovation through the Blueprint for the Bush program. Please contact me if you would like to register for any of these workshops. Coming up is Workshop 4 – Communication, Monday 1 March 2010 and Tuesday 2 March 2010 - 6.00 pm to 9.00 pm …. Covers communication styles, communicating for change as well as practical advice for communicating with the media. Also includes tips for email communication and writing newsletters. Workshop 5 – Meeting procedures / Governance, mid-April (dates to be confirmed). Tips and ideas to ensure more productive and quicker meetings. Also covers the essentials for good governance.

Aussie Host – The Toowoomba and Golden West Tourism have approached us to assist with delivering customer service training in the region. This would be a fantastic opportunity to promote the Aussie Host program to a wider audience.

BAG’s current organisational structure allows for members to become involved in their project of interest (working party). To become a working party member, there is no requirement to attend our General Meetings – unless of course you want to! We understand that everyone is busy, and that they don’t want to be at meetings which are of little interest to them. We are all about focussing members’ energies to achieve tangible results. Members contribute in different ways and we value and appreciate everyone’s ongoing support. Welcome to all new members who have joined in the past few weeks.


BAG PROJECT UPDATES ………

Dentist – More delays! I’m sorry to advise that our most recent contact with the private dentist has their new anticipated start date as late March, early April. Many obstacles beyond our control have contributed to this delay, but they are still very keen and progress is happening. BAG and the dentist collaborated recently to submit a funding application to refurbish the old doctors surgery in the main street (owned by Queensland Health) for use as a dental surgery.

Child Care Centre – Consistent efforts from Jayne McLean sees some progress with this project. Jayne’s strategic and methodical processes ensures a solid foundation. Jayne is arranging for a building certifier/architect to come and inspect the old kindy building so that plans can be drawn up to determine the needs for certification as a child care centre and so that quotes for building works can be obtained. This will be essential to the progress of this project. Furthermore, details have been provided to council to put forward a proposed project under the Sustainable Resource Communities Initiative for the refurbishment of the old Kindergarten to meet current standards for a Child Care Centre. The Department of Employment and Training, Office of Early Childhood Education and Care contacted BAG today requesting updated figures to continue lobbying for Mitchell to be considered under the Unique Solutions program for assistance to establish a kindergarten. Although our aim is for Child Care, we would be very willing to collaborate with the Department of Employment and Training for funding assistance.

Sand / Weir – Some information has been forthcoming with regards to the tests carried out previously on the sand. With this information we have begun a proactive approach to stakeholders to advise them of the availability of our sand, to initiate dialogue of possible scenarios for its extraction.
 
GENERAL COMMUNITY INFORMATION ………

Maranoa’s Got Talent – Nominations free & now open. 6-25 year olds. Get a performance together and nominate to showcase your talent as an individual or as a group, whether it be singing, dancing, playing an instrument, magic, acting, comedy or more. $1000 in prize money up for grabs for the best performances. Nominations close 5.00 pm Wednesday 17 February 2010. Mitchell Auditions: Tuesday 2 March 2010; 4 – 6 pm at the Shire Hall. Final will be held on Saturday 13 March 2010 in Roma. Nomination forms are available from the council office or at http://www.maranoa.qld.gov.au/community/youth.shtml

LAST CHANCE FOR MITCHELL EMERGENCY SERVICES CADET PROGRAM - Emergency Management Queensland has scheduled a final community meeting for Monday 22nd February 2009 in an attempt to gather community support in order to reactivate the Emergency Services Cadet Program in the Mitchell Community. The group has been inactive from November 2008 after a number of key Adult Member Positions became vacant. Several community meetings have been held with a very limited response to date. As outlined in departmental policy, should there be insufficient support in place in order to keep a group active, and all reasonable avenues to maintain the active status of the group have been investigated, the group is to be disbanded. Unfortunately, the Mitchell Emergency Services Cadet Group will be disbanded should there not be adequate support identified at the scheduled meeting in order to reactivate the group. Community Meeting; Monday 22 February 2010, 5.30 pm; Council Meeting Room, Maranoa Regional Council - Mitchell Office. Everyone welcome and encouraged to attend - past Adult Members, past Cadets, Parents & community members. For further information please contact Jay Dobbin 4616 1531.

Until next time! :-)

Cheers,
Sharyn.