Growth Under Pressure: Can the Fraser Coast Keep Up?

The Fraser Coast is growing fast, ageing rapidly, and facing increasing pressure on healthcare, housing and infrastructure.

In this episode of Fraser Coast Property Brief, Glen Winney sits down with David Lee MP to discuss the future of the region and the major challenges that need to be addressed to support long-term growth.

The conversation covers hospital upgrades, the long-awaited MRI machine, plans for the health precinct, housing affordability, workforce accommodation, major road projects, water security, social housing, and the future planning needed to ensure the Fraser Coast remains a great place to live, work and invest.

If you've ever wondered whether our hospitals, roads, housing supply and infrastructure are keeping pace with population growth, this episode provides a practical and honest discussion about where the region is heading.

Topics include:
• Hervey Bay Hospital upgrades and future expansion
• MRI machines, ICU redevelopment and specialist services
• The future of the TAFE and health precinct
• Housing shortages and workforce accommodation
• Regional Activation Fund infrastructure projects
• Major road upgrades and transport planning
• Water security and future growth
• Social housing and homelessness initiatives
• Why long-term planning matters for the Fraser Coast

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to the Fraser Coast Property Brief, the podcast where property, development, and business leaders share what's really happening across the Fraser Coast. Each episode brings you insights into local projects, market trends, and the people helping shape the future of our region. Welcome to our latest podcast, the Fraser Coast Property Brief. Today we're going to talk about all things health. So we're discussing one of the biggest challenges of the Fraser Coast, the connection between health, housing and infrastructure. Harvey Bay has a medium age around 51 years old. It's one of the oldest demographics in Queensland, and healthcare is one of our largest employing sectors. So today I'm joined by David Lee, the state member for Harvey Bay and LMP representative. Welcome, David. Thanks, Glenn. Great to be here. Yep, so we're going to talk about what's holding this region back. So I just want to go through some of the sections. You're quite welcome to expand what I've got, but uh we're growing rapidly. Uh we have one of the fastest aging populations since COVID, like our biggest demographics are over 65-year-olds. Um we've got 22% of our workforce that work in the health industry. We've got very high demands for nursing doctors and specialists because of the age, and we have a major problem attracting medical workers. So, you know, tell us, you know, how do we start to fix this issue or what is the fundamental issue we've got to start with?

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Yeah, look, I think there's a there's an awful lot in there. Um I think one of historically one of the biggest issues we've had has been a lack of long-term planning. I think that's been a consistent problem. Um, and my approach on being elected was to sort of certainly look at the taking on board all those matters that you've raised around uh you know 35% of our population are over the age of 65. Uh we have the highest rates of chronic disease across all the major indicators, as a proportion of our population in Australia. So it's no secret that we've got some certainly some pressing problems in terms of the population growth, the growth in the number of older people that are celebrating this great way of life. Uh and if I can just start that the starting point for me has been, as a newly elected member, is to focus very much on the big picture. So a couple of things fall out of that, and and uh I know Glenn, you and I had a conversation in the lead up to the election. Firstly, the Y Bay and Burnett Regional Plan. That was something I spoke very early in the piece to the Deputy Premier about, the importance of getting that a well-considered plan. Unfortunately, that plan historically was rushed and bought. And so uh that wasn't in the best interest of the region as a whole. There is a lack of consultation. So we started that process. Uh, I'm actually back in Parliament the week starting the 1st of June, and I'll be getting an update on the progress of that plan. But I am I have been assured that there's been a lot of consultation uh with the key stakeholders about that. So that's the that's the bigger picture regional plan. Then there's from a transport perspective the Fraser Coast Integrated Transport Strategy. Happy to talk a little bit more about this later. Yep. So again, that's another significant piece because that's the that's the big picture on the Fraser Coast. So we've got the Y Bay Burnett Regional Plan, and then under that we've got the Fraser Coast. So we if we're going to talk about that a little bit later, I unpack that. But broadly, the I I've pushed hard for that. We're now undergoing that piece of work at the moment, and you'll be happy to know that I know while we patiently waited for Bundaberg to finish theirs, there's been a lot of learnings that have fallen out of the Bundaburg Regional uh integrated transport strategy that have been picked up in this integrated transport strategy, which is great to know. So it's getting that bigger picture right, uh and then under that we've got the subset. Obviously, we're going to unpack that with health, housing, policing, fire services, and the like. All right. So let's unpack it you know one bit at a time.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

Hospital infrastructure. Um, you know, our hospital continues to expand, um, but we feel like we're missing a lot of key services, especially around our age. You know, CAF labs always keep coming up as a main thing. Uh talked to Nick Yim, the former president of the AMA the other day. Um, you know, and there's some serious, like you said, some serious chronic diseases in our area, and we're not catering for our population growth. What's the current state government doing to rectify that? I know they've got a health scheme right across Queensland because it's been neglected for a decade or so. Um, what are some of the key things that you and your government are doing to rectify our hospitals and our major health scheme?

SPEAKER_00 4:44

Okay, so on the immediate front, um uh we campaign fairly heavily for an MRI machine. Surprising that a hospital of our size wouldn't have an MRI machine. MRI MRI machines, six of them, um, ten CT scans have been ordered from Europe. So we're hoping to take delivery at the end of the year. We've got the uh major redevelopment of the ED and the intensive care unit currently underway. For years and years that had sat on the books as $40 million, a part of our hospital rescue plan was a commitment to that following the Sam Sankster review right across Queensland into hospital infrastructure. So sadly, the project had blown out from 40 to 96 million, but we remain committed to that because we have a real need to ensure that we've got the fit-for-purpose infrastructure here at the hospital. So MRI machine coming later on in the year. Uh later this year, hopefully later this year, we'll have the opening of the facility. So we'll have the new purpose-built ICU with the 14 beds and the emergency department. We've got the state-of-the-art helipad for aeromedical evacuation, so uh that was uh high level imported from Singapore, so it's a fairly significant piece of infrastructure. So that's the immediate works. The longer-term stuff that's happening at the moment is one of the things that, by virtue of my background in health, the hospital is now doing a master plan, so they've revisited the master plan. Uh, that's well advanced. They've been doing a lot of uh consultation with key stakeholders about that. Another sad sort of fact is that unfortunately, and we we have to live with these legacy issues, particularly when there's been poor planning about that, is the current hospital site's landlocked. Um, there was an opportunity a number of years ago that was that that there could have been sufficient land for future expansion. I'm advised that that land was sold off to a developer, and as a result, the we're landlocked, and we're finding that the foundations weren't poured for the hospital to go up, so it was never contemplated the hospital would go up. And so we have this hodgepodge of facilities all crowded in with the one location without an overarching strategy and plan for the future. So that's inextricably linked to the TAFE site. So with the TAFE site, we're currently uh last week we tabled a petition for the creation of an education precinct. Yeah. And so we're looking to do a business case and some analysis around creating an education precinct so that we could get better use of that TAFE site as part of the health precinct. Would you leave TAFE there or bring TAFE down to the university? So the the business case is analysed in the co-location of the Harvey Bay TAFE campus with the University of Sunshine Coast Campus.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

Which I think is a good idea.

SPEAKER_00 7:36

So that site currently has 32 hectares of land. Uh there's a joint project uh going on with both the hospital and uh as part of this, and Economic Development Queensland to look at that site. So it's 32 hectares. It lends itself nicely to potentially decanting chronic services, ambulancy services. I talked about chronic disease management. Things like dialysis management, outpatients could go conceivably be taken from that site and placed on the TAFE site, which would release that land on the existing site for Cube Bay services.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Yeah, which would be good. I might be responsible for selling somebody old hospital site when they put it up about 15 years ago. I remember a previous government putting it all on the market, and I thought it was crazy at the time. I actually bought some of the sites myself and built some more medical centres there. So yeah, I know it's uh So we're working we're basically working with what we've got. Yeah, this um sea touring of governments and changing of policy. So, what about private enterprise? How how much should private enterprise, like private hospitals and you know, uh radiologists and all that, how much are they going to influence the health industry in the future? Uh should we be heading towards more private enterprise investment and not just rely on the government?

SPEAKER_00 8:53

I think I think there's an element, there's got to be an element of investment on both sides, public-private. And one of the things with the master plan, one of the instructions that I'd push through from the minister's office, Dan, was this is a really important uh when you when you're doing the master plan, I don't want the public system to be doing that siloed from the private system. So I call it a health precinct. This is why I was so uh vocal about the Queensland Redistribution Commission proposal. It's a health precinct, so we really need it's in our best interest for St. Stephen's Hospital to be there in the long term, because we have a lot of gold card holders in the community with our veterans' population, a lot of people with private health insurance. I've got private health insurance, so I want to go to St. Stephen's. So the master plan, the my idea around the master plan is there needs to be a degree of collaboration between both the public and private sector so that we work together to ensure that we're operating in the best interest of the community. So, with that, there's certainly a strong place. I think I'm I'm very happy that St. Stephen's designed their facility in a way that they can extend it by a further 96 beds. They've provided the land space to actually and and done the design really well to lend itself for that. So I think that's really good. Um, the other thing I should mention is I've had a number of discussions historically with St. Stephen's about a cardiac calf lab. That's something I remain committed to actually delivering within the public system.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

Right, yeah, which it's probably one of the biggest things we need. Um, all right, so health's another major thing. Uh we've got population growth, something like 2,800 per year in our region, so we're putting on another 1,1200 houses. Our roads, our roads aren't catching up. Um there's been a bit in the news recently, um seems like regurgitated every two or three years about the Pole Boromheads Road, Meribur Harvey Bay Road. Um that intersection, it's years behind. It was previous government promises, not yours, I know. Um there was also supposed to be some federal government funding in there. Um everybody doesn't seem to know what's actually going on. So can you give us a bit of a brief and an update where that's at and how it's going to progress?

SPEAKER_00 11:06

Yeah, and look, I uh earlier in the week I briefed council. I arranged to brief council on the progress of where this is at. You quite rightly point out that um it had been announced, it had actually been announced as being delivered in August of 2024. Yep. So the history of this project briefly is it started off $44 million. That was budgeted for in the state government budget papers back in 22-23 with a commitment of $35 million from the Feds. Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

So that was like an 80-20 thing, didn't it? So that was 80-20.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

That was 80-20. Meanwhile, went up to $55 million in the state government, the state budget for 2024-25, it was up to $55 million, but the $35 million remained static. Right. As soon as I was elected, I asked for a briefing from DTMR and all these major intersections. Um within six to eight weeks, I think it was, of being elected, eight weeks of being elected, I was advised that that project had blown out to 70 million and had been blown out to 70 million for some time. It's actually 74 million. Um and this, what the Minister for Health, uh sorry, Minister for Main Roads and Transport on being elected, Brent Mickelberg, asked for an update. They did every main road project, cross river rail, the whole thing, right throughout Queensland. Total blowout was $6.7 billion. So out that intersection is blown out by 19 million. Um, and there's a line item, this is what I explained to council the other day, there's a line item in the budget papers that basically it's like a subject to clause in a contract. It basically says, subject, words to these effects, subject to costings and timelines being confirmed and negotiation with the federal government. So at the moment we're looking at a $19 million blowout on the current design. Um so there's no appetite to redesign that road. Um, we've got no appetite to do that and then push this project uh a few years further down the track. So all I can say is the state members, I mean uh it's it's acknowledged it's a critical piece of infrastructure. Myself and John Barunis are doing all we reasonably can to push the state. So that's on the boundary to electrics as well, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 13:15

Yes, which we'll talk about in a minute.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

We're doing all we reasonably can to push that along.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Yep. All right. Um so yeah, like our concern as a development industry and uh and community is all our growths are about to go out to the Dundarin area of the new town planning scheme. There's probably got to be thousands of blocks out there. Um, you know, you get your two schools out there, so it it is a bottleneck.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

And that's acknowledged, Glenn. Um we certainly recognise the issues and the pressures there. Um we're doing all we can within the context of cleaning up a pretty messy budget to make sure that we um we continue to lobby the feds uh and and you know pull every available lever we can to get this project off the ground. And the industry is supportive for that. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

Um the housing crisis, and and it's not, you know, it's not our housing crisis, it's really an Australia-wide housing crisis. Um we've got too many people and not enough houses. But the state government um, I believe, are doing something really good with their uh RAF grant, which is the uh regional activation fund. Um and they're they're paying for some key infrastructure. And there's a second round just come out recently. Do you know what's happening locally with those RAF grants and the and what pieces of infrastructure it'll help fund?

SPEAKER_00 14:33

So the resident activation fund, the second round um is is open, $500 million. Yep. When that's announced, that'll be dispersed through the normal budget process. Uh I don't have um line of sight if there's any other projects. I know council's quite keen, has put a couple of applications in as part of that process, and one of them that I'm very supportive of is doing something about water security for the region. Um I think that's that's fairly critical. Um, having been on council on that committee that developed that piece of work, um, I'm I remain pretty committed to it. They need to do it. It's one significant, it's not it's not a total solution, but it's certainly a substantial step in the right direction. Is that there's 60 million they need for the Lempfels Dam, Teddington Dam connection? Uh yeah, I think the total, I think the total figure I last heard was 100 million, we've gone up to $100 million. Um so they've put in a joint application to federal and I'll let them advise you where that's at, and they've put one in for state. Um and John Barunis and myself are supportive of that. We can see where that's going, that's pretty important. I think they've also put in an application around the doing something about pole goal sewage sewer as well as that's at full capacity. That's been something they've been talking about for a while. But the water security one, we definitely have to get something happy with that.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

I noticed some RAF grants, um, I think St. Helens in Meriborh, they're they're bringing sewerage on into there, so that's been an area with no sewerage, so they're bringing that. Um out Dundown Craignish area where um QM properties are doing, they're doing some major roundabouts, road works, and it's straight.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

I think that was the yeah, that was the last round. Scrub Hill Road was 365 homes out at Scrub Hill Road. Um, and then we've got another one on the Esplanade in my patch, which is down on Shelley Beach on the corner of Hoagley. Is it Hoadley or Hoakley? Hoagley. Hockley Lane. Hockley Lane. So there's 73 apartments going into that location. So I think I when I drove past this morning, they've they're doing the earth basically, which is good.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Um all right. Um controversial issue just recently. Um I think we're both on the same page here, is some of the bureaucrats within the state government want to change the electoral boundaries and take our health system and put it into Maribor's boundary. Um logically, it doesn't sound very smart. So what's your opinion? What's your opinion on that? Uh which I know, but what's your main reasoning behind why it should stay in Harvey Bay, especially our hospital?

SPEAKER_00 17:03

Yeah, sure. Um so Queensland Redistribution Commission, uh, I make the point that's an impartial independent arm's length organisation. Um, but I it's no secret that certainly uh I've been vocal about that and I appreciate the support that we've had from you, Glenn, and the and the association. Uh, we ended up with something like 50, I think it was 57 objections lodged.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

We ran a petition which had over 3,000 signatures, which we had tabled in Parliament. Uh effectively what happened was the someone's drawn a line down Nissan Street, um, and earlier we spoke about the importance of a health precinct. Yeah. Uh so what you effectively what you would have is if you went with the current proposal for this um line, and they and I should say that the redistribution commission do all of their changes to the electorates based on population numbers. So, first point of first point, yeah. There's no permanent population in the hospital. You know, there might be 1,160 people trying to find a nursing home bed on Wai Bay at the moment, but they're not, they're not classified as permanent residents. So there's no permanent residence in there. Um they used the Nissan Street as the boundary. So we would have this ludicrous situation where I'd be standing on St. Stephen's side, which would be in the Harvey Bay electorate. I'd have St. Stephen's private hospital, I'd have the public dental unit, and I'd have the public cancer centre, and I'd be looking across the road at the public hospital. And John would be waving. Um but the big problem I've got with it is it effectively divides the health precinct in two. Now, I work closely with John Brunis, we get on very, very well. But as the local um member for Harvey Bay, I've had a long-standing commitment to doing some pretty important work around that health precinct. So this would somewhat fragment that process, having two electorates.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

And it'd be very hard for John as a politician, with his main base in Maribor, lobbying to get money for a Harvey Bay hospital and leaving Maribor, you know, like he's got to be lobbying for a Meribor hospital.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

It's a ludicrous, it's a ludicrous proposition. And um I know there was that there was a lot of public media about oh, you know, David Lee standing up to his party. I have to say I had 150% support from both the Premier and Deputy Premier for fighting for my and they'll both always stand up and back me up for standing up.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

So this early thing wasn't a political decision, it's the system in terms of the process. It's not a political decision.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

It's it's basically realigning the boundary. We've we've raised our objections, we've raised them both through our our normal LMP party system. Plus, we opened that, we encouraged the public with our petition to to to argue against that and put the submissions in. And as I said, there was 57 objections. So hopefully reasoning will pro good reasoning will prevail. It makes no difference. It's just drawing a dog leg around the hospital and hands up.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

And the thing is the groups are outdone Darrenway in the next five or ten years, and they're all going to go into John's electorate. So he's got to get a spike in numbers, you know. They are where you know I'm I'm I'm still of the belief that you know it should go to the pile of the Meriborough Harvey Bay Road, the boundary, because the ambulance station is also was put into the Maribor electorate and should come in us, but I also believe it should go all the way down to about Chapel Road and past the Burrell Road and actually bring the sports precinct back to us. Because I'd like you lobbying for our sports precinct as well and trying to get new.

SPEAKER_00 20:33

I know you would, Glenn, but um uh I have to say for them to do that, that would have a flow-on effect. Um and then they'd have to redo the re based on population numbers, redo the whole, rejig the whole thing. So I just think that, yeah, look, I we want to we want that hospital to stay where it is. Uh and I would arguably um we will be servicing that hospital in the future will be servicing large parts of the Maryborough electorate. Uh Dundower and Craignearshap that way. Eli Waters is um is set to go into the Maryborough electorate as well. So this is why it's so critical that we have um we're not we're not sort of having a race between Maryborough. I know there's traditionally the the tail of two cities, uh, but we've got to get these services into place in the best interests of the Fraser Coast as a whole, and Harvey Bay Hospital, in my opinion, is supposed to be doing it.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

All right, let's you know finish off towards um backing towards the housing. Um it is a crisis. I know we've got the RAF funding and that. I see uh state governments building some social housing up here as well. Um you'll be involved in stuff as is it King Street or one of those?

SPEAKER_00 21:39

So we've got uh we've got 17 units going into King Street, we've got 27 units going into Rose Street, Pay Alba. Um I'm currently lobbying for um a foyer for accommodation for youth. All right. Youth accommodation for homeless youth. Um or broadly homeless youth, it doesn't mean they're necessarily living. On the street, that could be going to TAFE or whatever. And the other project I'm quite and 18 units for senior social housing in Torquay. Right. And the other project we're working on at the moment, which is very, very early stages, is transitional accommodation for victims of domestic violence. Yeah, that's important. So those pro so just yeah, so those it's about getting the balance right. So yes, we need some public housing, but we have to, it's always a tricky balance where we get people not in my backyard and this side of it. So it's making sure that we do have, it's in our best interest as a community to make sure that we've got the appropriate housing and services in place to support. So the uh Rose Street, for example, um I'm doing a bit more work with housing on that, but that that is designed to be supporting homeless with a degree of case management support, short-term homeless with a degree of case management support. So we can't just put these people, the more vulnerable people, into housing without having some form of support and case management services in place.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

So in the normal housing, it's becoming a bit unaffordable here. We've got a housing shortage. Uh you sat on council quite a few years, so you understand the town planning scheme and things like that. We've traditionally been very bland with our housing mix. We're just built four-bedroom houses. Uh, we've got 12% medium density, where the state average I think is about 26%. Um, what should we do and to change to get that mix of housing that's actually going to attract the workers that we need, especially in the health sector? We we don't seem to be focusing on what the younger generation actually wants, and no one's talking about it enough.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

Oh, yeah, in terms of the the style of housing, I'll leave that to the council's planning scheme because I don't have line of sight of what their current planning scheme is. Uh with the TAFE site, my conversations with um Economic Development Queensland is there's been talk about opening that land up for housing. Um I I don't want to see that. I I think that would be wasted if it was just suburban land suburban housing. If there's going to be any housing on that site, I'd like to see that being very specifically directed towards healthcare workers. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 24:15

Andor student accommodation as well.

SPEAKER_00 24:17

So I'd I I'm not I'm basically that was the briefing where I spoke with the CEO some months back. In fact, it would have been late last year, and I said I don't want to see that site developed for um just purely residential housing and linked up to Beach Road, because I think that was the direction council might have been going in. Um I was very firm in saying if there's to be any housing on that site, I I I think we need to have that housing for healthcare workers and lots of student accommodation.

SPEAKER_01 24:44

Yeah, like I um it's the University of Queensland that's got the uh teaching facility in medical place. Yeah. Um, you know, I've talked to Rudy and that one of the doctors there quite a few times. And the problem is we get a lot of like doctors from overseas, Sri Lankan doctors and different things, and they're only there for a three to six month course. Yeah. Um they're not well funded. They're you know, they're paying for the courses and everything like that. So they have very a big difficulty going into this market. They can't, they've got no track record in rentals. Like we've got 1% vacancy, so they find it hard to get a rental. Um, they don't have enough money for a bond, and most rental properties want six to twelve months because of a tight market. So there's a massive gap there to actually facilitate for these short-term doctors and training and you know, nurses wanting to come up here, or even even as specialists, we're we're having trouble getting specialists because they're trying to get Airbnbs or something for their one or two nights here, and they're paying exorbitant rates. So we're you know, it's a that's a big issue, and I think that's a housing mix that is completely missing because the university's never done it.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

And I think the yeah, that's right, and I think the uh one of the last things when I was talking with council um about was making sure that that precinct remained designated as a health precinct in the planning scheme. But I don't and I'm hoping that was listened to. Um I'm hoping they've picked that up and preserved that site. Um, but if they haven't, then I've got a planning minister that can. No, I think they do.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

They they really do, especially since it's a state government-owned site. So I think you guys got the upper hand there. Um so we might close up. Is it is there anything else you know you as a government and or a local member doing that we should be aware of? Or you know, you've got any exciting announcements you want to tell us earlier?

SPEAKER_00 26:38

Well, I'm hoping I'm hoping I'll have some exciting announcements after the budget because there's a couple of things. Um it's no secret I've been advocating very strongly for the new fire and rescue service because they don't they're on the same site they've been since 1962. Yeah. Tu bay, um, they don't have full line of sight in terms of the fire learvy. You know, that they've got sort of made basically 180-degree radius around that site. So they need they need the capability. They need the capability not only to be dealing with expansions and residential estates, but we've got subsequent development at the airport, they have to cover off of the airport. Yeah, plus we've got high-rise, yeah, and they don't have the capability to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

We don't have the trucks to go up what is it modern five or eight stories or something?

SPEAKER_00 27:22

So the conversation I had with the the um um, I think it was yesterday, we we handed over new appliance to um the Torque Fire Station, and that conversation was, you know, when we build the new station, because I'm I'm pushing pretty hard for it, I'm being optimistic about it, we need to make sure that the bay is sufficiently high enough to accommodate these new um operational vehicles.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

So council are uh approving things like the Sheridan now, it's 16 and 12 stories. We've got a 16-story going behind us at the Pielba Hotel site. There's another 16 approval, but we don't have a fire department that could actually look after a 16-story built.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

That's that's something I'm very, very determined to get. We've got the we've got the land. The previous government did do the right thing in buying the six and six and a half thousand square metres. Um but again that that was claimed as being delivered when there was no money in the budget. So we're we're working, we're working on that. And I think look, one of the big tensions we've got, Glenn, which I'm no secret to you, is uh sometimes there's a belief that the world stops at South East Queensland. Yep. So my role as a local a local parliamentarian is to spend a lot of time going through talking to the ministers and advocating the ministers about how much growth we have here and the and the importance of the infrastructure. And I'm I'm obviously competing with 52 other, uh 51 other uh local MPs to do just that, but um I'm certainly up for the challenge and and we are we are starting to get a bit of traction on some of these projects.

SPEAKER_01 28:51

Talking about delivered projects they didn't do in the last term. Um the Burrell Road Um Boundary Road intersection had big roundabout. Yep. There was Banamesh up there pre-election as well, saying that was delivered. That's right. What's happening with that roundabout?

SPEAKER_00 29:07

So so that had a big banner that said 27 million. Yeah. Um that it's actually 38 million. Okay, so that's blown out, that had blown out 11 million. So I actually asked, so when I was elected, I had mentioned the briefing earlier within eight weeks. I actually asked DTMA to go back and remodel that intersection because I was concerned about the the growth that I see as a local out at Riverheads. Um the Ingenious just expanded, I think 180 units. Then you've got that street behind it, the name escapes me, Best Street or something like that. Yeah, back down the back. Back street. Back street's got all that development happening. You can see it when you're flying in.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

And now numbers at the airport are growing every year, too.

SPEAKER_00 29:48

So all that pressure on Borel Road. So I asked them to go back and look at the feasibility of a two, two, uh dual lane roundabout. Ultimately, they came back, and the other thing was I was speaking to council about the other thing with the future proofing is how does this actually link in with four lanes on the boundary road connection?

SPEAKER_01 30:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:07

Can we do this? To cut a long story short, what happened what what they said is we can do a dual lane roundabout, but we'll have to close off Walker's Road, deny access to Walker's Road, which would put a lot of pressure on Cinerita Drive. And the sporting precinct. And the sporting precinct in that area. So but I've been assured, so the modelling, um, so we're back to the single lane roundabout. I think personally that'll be upgraded to lights within the decade.

SPEAKER_01 30:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:33

But um it should be, I'm assured it'll be fairly seamless to go. The other and the other problem we have is we've discovered, so where all that bunting is, yeah, um, that's got asbestos. Great. So we've actually got to remove um, so we're negotiating with council at the moment about the removal of the asbestos from that site before the work started. Apparently it was an old um like a there was an old dump there. I think the history is um talking to locals, but yeah, there's all that area's got asbestos that we'll have to remove from the site, so that's added to the cost. Great.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

All right, we might uh you didn't give us any promises just then. Nearly. We're nearly got to do that. Did you get anything out of the federal budget? Last question. Was there anything for our region? Because I saw David Batts standing next to an empty tree at Parliament House in Canberra saying this is what we got.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

No, it was a pretty ordinary budget. I think we're trying to dig into um I think well there was an announcement um which is a is a sort of a copy of our resident activation fund. So I think the feds are putting some money into housing.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

I think they've created it's gonna be a two billion infrastructure fund, so yeah, yeah, hopefully.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

So there might be some opportunities there, um not sure. Um, but yeah, that's pretty slim pickings. It was very slim pickings.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

All right, I might wrap it up there. Thank you very much, Dave, for joining us today. Um please check us out on Facebook or YouTube or your favourite podcast channel. Um, and we'll see you again next time. No worries, anytime. Thanks.