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Toowoomba Mayor Urges Preparation For Heatwave Conditions

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Mayor Paul Antonio
Mayor Paul Antonio

Toowoomba Region Mayor Cr Paul Antonio is urging residents to take precautions over the coming days amid predictions of a heatwave. Toowoomba has already sweltered through one extreme day with the official temperature hitting 38.3 degrees last Sunday and Cr Antonio encouraged residents to be extra vigilant and keen an eye on neighbours, the elderly, small children and family pets.

The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting heatwave conditions on Friday and Saturday, January 3rd and 4th,  with the expectations of the hottest January day in more than a decade (the mercury hit 37.7 degrees on January 27, 2001.

“Heatwaves are sometimes referred to as the silent killer, with research showing that excessive heat causes more deaths than other hazards like bushfires, cyclones and floods combined,” Cr Antonio said. “A new University of Adelaide report suggests older migrants and new arrivals from other countries are at risk because they do not know the local conditions or may not speak English well enough to understand the warnings,” he said.

“We as Queenslanders are always looking after our mates, but Toowoomba has a diverse community and many new residents or those visiting families over the holidays may not be aware of how to cope with heatwave conditions.”

Cr Antonio said a few tips to observe during extended hot conditions were:
Drink water regularly
Naturally cool your home, close windows and blinds in the day
Talk to your health service if you have health issue
Check on people who may struggle in the heat
Help people who are feeling unwell
Never leave babies, young children or pets alone in your car
Avoid going out during the hottest parts of the day
Seek medical advice if you have a chronic medical condition
Avoid drinks with caffeine, alcohol or large amounts of sugar.

Cr Antonio said exposure to extreme heat can cause heat exhaustion and heat stroke and sometimes death. He also encouraged those who encounter a life threatening situation to call Triple Zero (000) straight away.

Submitted by:
Chris Leslight
Communications officer
Stakeholder Engagement and Communication
Toowoomba Regional Council

Crows Nest Regional Art Gallery Seeks 2014 Exhibitors

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Crow’s Nest Regional Art Gallery is a venue for sharing artistic expression and the Gallery is keen to hear from exhibitors who wish to be part of its 2014 exhibition program.

The Gallery is seeking exhibition applications from regional and national artists who wish to display their work during 2014. Applications are welcome from both emerging and established artists.

Application packs are available by contacting the Gallery Officer via email: CrowsNestArt@toowoombaRC.qld.gov.au or by phone during regular office hours on 4698 1687 (10am to 4pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). Outside these hours, please leave a message with your contact details.

The Gallery is closed during the Christmas break and reopens on Monday, January 13, 2014.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Thursday, January 30.

Submitted by:
Angus Moffatt
Media Relations Officer
Stakeholder Engagement and Communicatio
Toowoomba Regional Council

Free 2014 Summer Tunes To Start January 5th, 2014

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You can keep the holiday revelry alive by enjoying Toowoomba Regional Council’s free, eight-week Summer Tunes program starting on Sunday, January 5. The following seven weeks will see performers across pop, rock, Celtic, country, jazz, and big band genres.

For the first time in 2014 the program expands to Oakey, Crow’s Nest, Pittsworth and Millmerran over successive Sundays in February.

The February Regional Summer Tunes program is:
Oakey: February 2, Bicentennial Park, The Countdowns
Crow’s Nest: February 9, Centenary Park, Slow Train Comin’
Pittsworth: February 16, Centenary Park, Roger & Penny
Millmerran: February 23, Anzac Park, Steve Henry Quartet.

Toowoomba’s entertainment program is staged at four of the city’s premier public parks ̶ the Picnic Point bandstand, the shade shelter area at Laurel Bank Park, at the Newtown Park State Rose Garden and near the children’s play area in Queens Park.

The Queens Park program, titled Children’s Capers, will be held from 10am to noon on each Sunday in the series. An added feature in Queens Park is free face painting for children of all ages. Other themes are The Big Bands at Picnic Point, Picnic Pleasures in Laurel Bank Park and Music in the Roses at Newtown Park. These sessions run from noon to 3pm.

Enjoy performances by Damian Black, The Alison Bryant Quartet, The Broxburn Music Club of Pittsworth, Yakety Saxes, JEDDY (Jazz Education for Darling Downs Youth Society), Triple Beat, Sunrise Road, Risky Business, Toowoomba Municipal Band, High Altitude Harmony, Paul Edwards Quintet, Andrew Kucks, the Jim Miller Big Band and Bart Thrupp among others.

The full program can be viewed at www.toowoombaRC.qld.gov.au/summertunes

Submitted by:
Angus Moffatt
Media Relations Officer
Stakeholder Engagement and Communication
Toowoomba Regional Council

Council Connections: Week 4, December 2013

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Toowoomba Regional Council Connections

The weekly program keeping you up to date with Toowoomba Regional Council’s facilities, activities and services.

Council Connections with Darren Burton

Darren talks about Council’s New Year’s Eve fireworks, waste collection services over the holidays, paying bills online, recycling responsibly, artist exhibitions called for the Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, a free FOODcents workshop, the TRC customer service centre being closed over Christmas, changes to Council’s phone numbers, joining any of TRC’s gyms and we remind listeners about the emergency after hours number.

Follow Toowoomba Regional Council on Twitter @ToowoombaRC

The Silly Season Is Not A License To Litter!

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Queenslanders are among the least focused when it comes to keeping Australia beautiful, and have plenty of room for improvement this silly season as our country faces its biggest litter onslaught of the year.

With the Keep Australia Beautiful National Litter Index paying close attention to our national tally through December, each state including Queensland has the opportunity to retrieve – or trash – its reputation in Australia’s waste stakes
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Peter McLeanKeep Australia Beautiful National Executive Officer Peter McLean said Christmas and New Year’s Eve were traditionally Australia’s biggest litter days with millions of tonnes of extra rubbish hitting the nation’s streets, parks and beaches. “We expect the amount of litter across the country will reach an all time peak this week with the main culprits being cigarette butts, empty food containers and water bottles,” Mr McLean said.

“We all have to take personal responsibility for our behaviour. This time of the year isn’t a ‘License to Litter’. “Let’s work together to make sure all that glitters is not litter this New Year’s eve. Littering is a deliberate wilful act- It’s another form of vandalism.”

The increase in litter is attributable to a surge of outdoor activities and the predictable increase in rubbish which comes with the holidays, especially New Year’s Eve.

Mr McLean said Queenslanders had a lot of ground to make up when it came to being the tidiest, according to the most recent Keep Australia Beautiful National Litter Index, but said there was still a chance to get closer to the top of the leader board.

 According to the most recent Keep Australia Beautiful National Litter Index based on items per 1,000 square metres, Victoria is the tidiest when it comes to litter. Queensland is currently the second worst, marginally in front of Tasmania in last place.

Keep Australia Beautiful Queensland CEO Rick Burnett also urged holidaymakers not to give their conscientious domestic recycling habits a vacation too, especially when out camping or at rental accommodation. “Familiarise yourself with the nearest domestic and public rubbish bins and recycle where possible. If camping, pick the rubbish up and take it with you,” Mr Burnett said. 

Keep Australia Beautiful has also released a ‘Yuletide Guide’ when it comes to cleaning up after Christmas and New Year.                               
THE YULETIDE GUIDE

  • Put bottles and cans empty and loose in the recycle bin, not bagged or boxed.
  • Recycle wrapping and cards.
  • Only recycle appropriate items. (No cellophane, tinsel, decorations, broken glasses or crockery)
  • Put cigarette butts in an appropriate container and throw in the rubbish.
  • You can’t recycle plastic shopping bags in your domestic bin. Reuse them as car rubbish bags when travelling.
  • Shopping trolleys belong at supermarkets.
  • 30% of household waste can be composted. Don’t throw leftover Christmas fruit vegie peelings in the rubbish. Compost it.
  • Don’t throw cooking oil down the sink. Wrap and put in with the rubbish.
  • Limit olfactory pollution. As a courtesy to your neighbours wrap the prawn scraps and freeze them until the next rubbish collection, this way won’t attract vermin either.
  • Polystyrene is recyclable in some places. Check with your local council.
  • Batteries are toxic for landfill, save them for council chemical waste collection or other safe deposit locations.

Police Target Highways In Pre-Christmas Blitz

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Every police motorcycle in the state as well as marked and unmarked police vehicles will be deployed on highways across Queensland today as more drivers set off on Christmas holidays.

Road Policing Command is co-ordinating the one-day blitz which will focus on some of the state’s busiest highways including the M-1, Bruce, Cunningham and Warrego highways.

Road Policing Operations Inspector Peter Flanders said the operation will send a strong message to road users over the busy holiday period. “As motorists set off to enjoy their Christmas break we want to ensure everyone gets our message that we will be out in force targeting the Fatal Five, particularly on our busy highways,” Inspector Flanders said.

Between December 23 last year and January 3 this year, more than 29,000 Queensland drivers were fined for speeding.

“The last thing we want to do is deliver the bad news that a son, daughter or family member has been involved in a traffic crash and won’t be home for Christmas. We are pleading with drivers to follow the speed limit, not to drink and drive, not to drive tired, wear a seatbelt and not be distracted by mobile phones while driving.”

More than 90 police motorcycles will support marked and unmarked police vehicles in the highly visible operation spanning from the Gold Coast to Cairns.

“We will be doing everything we can to stop drivers doing the wrong thing such as speeding and endangering their lives and the lives of other road users,” Inspector Flanders said.

Road Policing Command will continue rolling out traffic operations across the state throughout the Christmas Road Safety Campaign.

For all non-urgent police reporting or general police inquiries contact Policelink on 131 444 or Policelink.qld.gov.au 24hrs a day.

Submitted by:Queensland Police Service
Media & Affairs Group

Toowoomba Regional Council Offices Closing Early For Christmas Party December 20th

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Toowoomba Regional Council advises that its customer service counters will close from 12 noon to 5pm on Friday, December 20th to allow staff to attend a Council Christmas celebration. Customers can access an after-hours emergency service during this time. Customer service operations will return to normal from 8.30am on Monday, December 23.

Council facilities such as swimming pools will operate as per their normal hours tomorrow. However, the following facilities will be closing for the afternoon of December 20:

• Pittsworth Library †open 9am to 11.45am
• Millmerran Library †open 10am to 12noon
• Oakey Library †open 9am to 12noon
• Yarraman, Goombungee and Quinalow †closed as is normal on a Friday
• Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery will be closed from 12.30.

Council offices will then be closed from 5pm Tuesday, December 24 until 8.30am Thursday, January 2, 2014 for the Christmas/New Year break. Council apologises for any inconvenience caused to customers during this time.

Submitted by:
Jenny Foxton
Senior Communication Officer
Stakeholder Engagement & Communication
Toowoomba Service Centre
Toowoomba Regional Council

Toowoomba’s Clifford Street Opens As Four Lanes

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A long-standing inner-city road project was opened to traffic for the first time when Toowoomba Regional Council unveiled a new-look Clifford Street which has been upgraded to four lanes between Margaret and Russell Streets and forms a vital connection as part of the city’s Outer Circulating Road project.

Cr Carol Taylor and Mayor Paul Antonio
Cr Carol Taylor and Mayor Paul Antonio

Toowoomba Regional Council Mayor Paul Antonio has opened the new stretch of road and praised all involved in the project. “This project has been on the drawing board for many years and it is great to see it open and ready for business,” Cr Antonio said. “The project has had its challenges and has been delivered against a backdrop of minimising disruptions and inconvenience for CBD businesses and the residents who work or access these businesses.”

“This is a small, yet integral part of the larger Outer Circulating Road (OCR) project which is a network of roads forming a loop around Toowoomba’s City Centre to improve traffic flow and ease the congestion being felt in the city centre,” he said. “This is all part of positioning the city as a key regional centre.”

TRC Infrastructure spokeswoman Cr Carol Taylor said there was still some work to be done at the Clifford/Russell and Clifford/Margaret intersections which would be finalised by February. Cr Taylor also pointed out for residents to note that once Clifford Street was open to two-way traffic Baty Lane would operate as a one-way street from Mylne Street to Clifford Street.

“There have been many challenges associated with this project. The new road had to be designed as a split level carriageway with a continuous median strip from Margaret Street to Russell Street because of the steep cross fall,” Cr Taylor said. “There was a requirement to undertake significant essential service relocations such as Ergon, Telstra and stormwater drainage prior to undertaking road works. This came with the added responsibility of the careful removal of redundant asbestos,” she said. Clifford_St opening_2a

A sealed public car parking area has also been provided at the south east corner of Clifford and Russell Streets with access from Baty Lane to replace the spaces lost when the road was redeveloped.

Cr Taylor said “This important link will eventually improve traffic flow in and around the CBD and I must acknowledge all those affected during the construction phase for their patience and cooperation. This is the first step in the OCR project … and I thank all involved for helping Toowoomba grow and develop as a city.”

Submitted by:
Chris Leslight
Communications Officer
Stakeholder Engagement & Communication
Toowoomba Service Centre
Toowoomba Regional Council

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