EXPRESS The
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Locally owned and proudly independent
A NEW ERA BEGINS
The reborn Mareeba Shire Council begins operation. Alan Pedersen, deputy mayor Jenny Jensen, Mary Graham, acting chief executive Rod Ferguson, Mayor Tom Gilmore, Karen Ewin, Allan Holmes and Nipper Brown (picture Peter Roy). Full story, P3
$6.5m wasted
By Ryan Groube
Storage boxes and a skeleton crew are all that remain at a $6.5 million State Government building in Mareeba that will lie empty from next month. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) are in the process of relocating staff and office equipment from Block H to Block B at the Mareeba Agri-science Hub at Peters Street. In October 2013, The Express exclusively reported that DAFF would not renew its lease with the Department of Housing and Public Works
(DHPW) leaving the new multimillion dollar building vacant. DAFF had originally planned to be out of Block H by the end of 2013, but the DHPW’s failure to find a replacement tenant has allowed the department more time to complete the relocation. The DHPW unsuccessfully spent the latter half of 2013 trying to find a new tenant, either public or private, for Block H and are considering selling the building. “...the department is continuing to investigate options to backfill the vacant space within Block H,” a DHPW spokesperson said. “Department of Agriculture, Forestry and
Lot 203 4052m2 $125,000
Fisheries still currently occupy a portion of the space in Block H and the remainder is vacant.” The decision was taken to consolidate the DAFF service at Block B with the department citing “efficiencies and cost effectiveness” as the reason for the relocation. “Once the relocation is complete, the new access arrangements to DAFF services in Block B via Peters Street will be promoted to the regional community,” a DAFF spokesperson said. “This is expected to be completed by early February.” In December 2011, Block H was opened with pomp and fanfare by the former Labor State Gov-
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House & Land Package $478,000-5 Bed 2 Bath Lot 206 -3914m2 TC Homes BSA 1089966
ernment’s agriculture minister Tim Mulherin. An “agricultural research facility”, Block H was funded by the sale of the Kairi Research Station land, and was set to transform Mareeba as a leader in agricultural research and training. “The opening of the Mareeba Agriscience Hub will establish the Atherton Tablelands as a national leader in tropical agricultural science and training,” Mr Mulherin said at the opening in December 2011. The Australian Agricultural College Corporation originally leased office space at Block H but abandoned the building in July 2013 for a facility at Walkamin citing the need for additional space.
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