The Department of Natural Resources Mines and Energy (DNRME) recently requested talks with Whitsunday Regional Council regarding the future of 181 state reserves that Council is currently trustee of.Director of Planning and Development Service Neil McGaffin said DNRME requested the talks as part of the major amendment to the Whitsunday Planning Scheme.Mr McGaffin stressed the identified lots are not currently owned by Council and are not Council’s to sell.“Council is purely trustee of these lots and the discussions were to explore better uses for these land parcels,” he said.“We are also aware that some of the state reserves listed do have assets on them that were not installed by Council,” he said“Council was asked to review the zoning of these lots, with particular reference to 50 that were identified as not appropriately zoned.“Of those 50 there are a couple needing further negotiations with DNRME.“Council’s resolution as per the Council report on August 28 enabled these negotiations with DNRME to commence,” Mr McGaffin said.“At no stage did Councillors discuss the sale of any land as we are only the trustees, so any sale call would be a DNRME decision.“Council’s planning team simply started talks to discuss options of state reserves being rezoned to a more appropriate zone or for Council to remove itself as a Trustee.“All adjoining landowners will be notified well in advance if Council is recommending a zoning change,” Mr McGaffin said.Anyone seeking further information can read the Council report of August 28 on Council’s website or contact the Strategic Planning team on 4945 0263.

Whitsunday Regional Council is taking its popular library resources on the road via a new “pop-up library” trailer to increase engagement with the community.In the absence of dedicated mobile library …

Whitsunday Regional Council will welcome 35 new citizens at an Australian citizenship ceremony tomorrow as part of Australian Citizenship Day 2019.Mayor Andrew Willcox will induct new Australian citiz…

The Whitsunday Region Major Festivals and Events Attraction Strategy: 2019-2023 was adopted by Council at today’s ordinary meeting in Bowen.The strategy was developed in consultation with industry sta…

Construction on Bowen’s $25.4 million Sewage Treatment Plant is past the halfway mark, with the new plant on track to be switched on in December this year.

Whitsunday Regional Council has moved to make the region more dog friendly after approving changes to dog off-leash and dog prohibited areas at yesterday’s ordinary meeting in Collinsville.Dog lovers …

The construction of the new Proserpine Administration Building moved a step closer with Hutchinson Builders being awarded the contract at the Whitsunday Regional Council ordinary meeting in Collinsvil…

$3.61 million in park upgrades will happen across the Whitsunday region over the next two years, after Whitsunday Regional Council received funding under the Works for Queensland program.Mayor Andrew …

Visitors arriving at the Whitsunday Coast Airport will be greeted by a Welcome to Country digital sign recognising the traditional owners, the Gia and Ngaro people.The Welcome to Country sign is a joi…