Budget 2020-21: briefs

Published: 01 July 2020. (Note: information was correct at date of publication but may have since been changed or superseded.)

Work will start this financial year on a new animal pound to replace the ageing facility at McCoombe Street. Council purchased land for the pound in Links Drive, Woree, in the 2016/17 budget as the first step in the $4.6 million project. Council has allocated $1.4 million in this year’s Budget to commence construction of the facility, which will enhance Council’s animal welfare practices. The new pound is expected to have a medical treatment facility, provide better segregation of animals and an increased capacity.

Council has allocated almost $1.5 million to the renewal, upgrade and expansion of its CCTV network, including the relocation of its monitoring room to a larger and more appropriate facility. Council will install up to 10 new cameras this financial year, bringing the total number of CCTV cameras to over 400, about 186 of which are in the CBD.

Council will spend $500,000 on improving cemeteries including $252,000 on general renewal of infrastructure, and $176,000 for the purchase of relocatable shade structures and $72,000 to complete construction of a mausoleum and columbarium wall at Babinda cemetery.

Council has allocated $835,000 for the upgrade of bus sites across the city. The Bus Shelter Program will provide new bus shelters at 16 sites across the region, while 21 sites will be upgraded to provide stops that are Disability Discrimination Act compliant. The program provides for the upgrade of bus stops to assist those visually impaired, and those in wheelchairs, to use the public transport system. Council has also allocated a further $35,000 for planning the 2021-22 program, which has been allocated $700,000.