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A handful of Gemfields residents have shared their stories and experiences from the recent major flood, which left many families stranded.
On March 17, fast-moving flood waters swept across the Gemfields following the rapid rise of Retreat Creek in the early hours of the morning.
More than 200mm of rain fell in the catchment surrounding the tourist area of Sapphire Gemfields and Retreat Creek, between the Capricorn Highway and the town of Sapphire, peaked at 9.8 metres.
Following the flood event, many community members raised concerns that while the warning siren at Rubyvale went off, the one located at Sapphire failed to, which Central Highlands Regional Council Mayor Kerry Hayes told
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Seven mayors from Central and Western Queensland have launched an infrastructure advocacy campaign on behalf of the beef industry.
The Gladstone, Isaac, Banana, Central Highlands, Woorabinda, Barcaldine and Blackall-Tambo mayors formed the Queensland Beef Corridors group to call on the State and Federal Governments to upgrade roads in their regions that allow agriculture to flourish.
Central Highlands Mayor Kerry Hayes said that the seven local government areas provided a quarter of the countryâs cattle, but the associated infrastructure was lacking.
âWe already have a strong commitment from the State and Federal governments to improve key freight routes and connectivity between agricultural regions and ports,â he said.
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Queensland Beef Corridor mayors say the Federal Governmentâs budget, to be handed down on Tuesday, will not derail their push for âcriticalâ beef supply chain funding.
âItâs promising to have funding for the inland freight route, but it needs to link up with the local freight network used by businesses that contribute $1.7 billion a year,â Central Highlands Mayor Kerry Hayes said.
âWe are a mature and sustainable food production system that is creating more value-adding and additional jobs in the new economic environment.
âYou only had to be at Beef 2021 to see the range and extent of innovation and technology that livestock operators, transporters and processors have adopted.
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Central Highlands Regional Council CEO Scott Mason has tendered his resignation.
Mr Mason was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in August 2013 coming from Diamantina Shire Council and will leave the Central Highlands for a director role at Townsville City Council.
Mayor Kerry Hayes paid tribute to Mr Mason’s leadership and thanked him for his counsel.
“We have had the benefit of this energetic, insightful man for nearly eight years, and he has imported much skill and dexterity to the CEO role,” Mr Hayes said.
“Scott has immersed himself in the communities he lives and works in and became an influential regional advocate with great respect from his peers.
Former Chief Of Staff To Mayor Berke To Form Own Consulting Business Thursday, May 6, 2021
Kerry Hayes, former chief of staff to Mayor Andy Berke, said he is forming his own consulting business.
Mr. Hayes said in a letter to friends:
My time as the City of Chattanooga’s Chief of Staff closely paralleled the pandemic. I accepted my promotion from Mayor Berke at the very end of January 2020; within a matter of weeks, the operations of our office were consumed by daily decisions of unprecedented severity and complexity in an attempt to protect people from both a lethal virus and a cratering economy.