On Sunday December 8, a public meeting is to be held at the Paluma Community Centre at 10am for all ratepayers to discuss the setting of the 2025 fire levy.
Come along and also find out what the brigade is up to over a cuppa and a piece of cake. If there are any queries in the lead-up to the meeting, please contact Sonya Bryce, Treasurer / Secretary of Paluma Rural Fire Brigade on (0474) 324153.
The Annual General Meeting of the Paluma Rural Fire Brigade will follow on from the morning tea for those who are interested.
Members (and prospective members) are advised that the Annual General Meeting of the Paluma & District Community Association Inc. will be held on:
Saturday,April 6, 2024, at 12pm for a BBQ lunch followed by the AGM at 1:15pm in the Community Hall
Nominations are open for all Executive Committee positions. Nominations should be forwarded to any member of the Executive Committee or by email to PalumaPDCA@gmail.com. Please use the nomination forms, which can be downloaded here.
Positions are:
President,
1 or 2 Vice-Presidents
Secretary
Treasurer
General Committee members (numbers flexible)
Members are reminded that Annual Subscriptions are now due and should be paid prior to the commencement of the AGM. Membership is $45.00 Please use the subscription form here to submit your dues. New members are more than welcome and should use the same form.
Please note that you must be a PDCA member to nominate someone to the Committee or vote for any Committee member.
The AGM will be followed immediately by a normal General Meeting with the new Committee.
This Saturday September 30, a public meeting is being held at the Paluma Community Centre (10am) for all ratepayers to discuss the setting of the 2024 fire levy.
Come along and find out what the brigade is up to over a cuppa and piece of cake.
If there are any queries in the lead up to the meeting, please contact:
Nick and Margie…Margie came up in her set of four wheels in case you were wondering.
Last Sunday, on August 20th was our first Community Meeting with Cr Margie Ryder for this year. It was very productive with some rigorous discussion around several issues. There was also an earlier briefing with Nick Dametto, our Hinchinbrook electorate representative in Qld Parliament, regarding the village entrance signage. The issues raised at the community meeting included:
Pet clean up bags and general pet management
Traffic management – speeding in the village
Community security – break-ins, hooning
Road maintenance – verges on road to Dam turnoff and potholes on dam road
Vegetation control – weeds on council land and vacant blocks
Signage at village entrance
Pet cleanup and other resources left by Cr Maggie Ryder will be distributed directly to resident pet owners or left at the Community Hall for pickup.
Pet clean up bags: proposal put to council to provide pet clean up bag dispensers has not been approved. Maggie will take it back to council again noting that the PDCA is happy to do the restocking of any installed dispensers with resources provided by council.
A ‘letterbox drop’ to residents suggested as a reminder of their responsibilities as pet owners including use of leashes.
Pet management: There is currently a ‘local law’ pertaining to cat ownership currently being considered at State level. This resulted from a community survey open to all of the Townsville City Council area. If this law is passed, this community has the option to be considered for its use. It would mean residents will not be able to bring in ‘new’ cats to their home. A grandfather clause will allow those who currently have cats to keep them. It was suggested this also be applied to dog ownership although Margie indicated this would likely not be accepted.
The notion of an ‘off leash park’ be established on council land was also put forward.
Maggie provided some pet clean up dispenser bags and leashes for distribution to residents with dogs.
Traffic management/speeding: Need to report ANY observed offences with the police, online or by phone. Mobile number for Rollingstone Police: 0456096305 If its not reported, it hasn’t happened and no action can be taken.
Due to valid concerns of the safety of visiting school groups and visiting families during school holidays walking along the main road, Margie will write to Nick Dametto to approach Education Queensland (Nth Qld Region) and Townsville Catholic Education Office as well as Main Roads in regards to signage and other measures to mitigate the possibility of future casualities due to vehicles speeding through the village. Specific examples of ways other communities have mitigated speeding provided.
Community security: Need to report ANY observed offences with the police, online or by phone. Mobile number for Rollingstone Police: 0456096305 If its not reported, it hasn’t happened and no action can be taken.
Suggestion residents purchase loud portable air horns to assist in alerting close neighbours of immediate security concerns. This has been effective in reducing criminal activity in some streets in small communities near and within Townsville city.
Suggestion to establish a community alert ‘phone tree’ to ensure residents are alerted to any immediate security threats.
Suggested to invite Rollingstone Police mobile number to Paluma Community Alert WhatsApp
Paluma Dam Road and verges from village end to turn off: Paluma Dam road annual maintenance will occur in September. Request for support for more regular maintenance considered.
A request to council to budget for building up and strengthening verges to cope with large vehicles including garbage trucks. Recent repairs due to request by Sam Stedman of Outer Limit Adventure Fitness in preparation for the recent Paluma Push. Noted this took persistent communications to happen.
Use ‘Snap Send Solve’ App available on TCC website; Contact Margie directly regards road/verge maintenance (from village to Paluma dam turnoff and the Dam road, Hussey Road) that have been logged with council but not actioned ESPECIALLY if any safety concerns.
Vegetation control: Council to be informed to mow verges of loop road as part of their regular maintenance. Margie will query council on their ability to enforce landowners to manage vegetation on their vacant blocks of land. Individuals can register a complaint with council regarding unkempt properties.
Early morning briefing regarding Village entry signage
Village entrance signage: Margie will check with council if they can take ownership of the proposed location from National Parks. If not possible, Nick Dametto has agreed to appeal to the appropriate State minister.
Other signage around the village: regardless of prior consultation and against Margie’s recommendations, TCC has started installing a range of signs through the village. Some are not appropriately located. Further collaboration and consultation will be sought by Margie.
Some of the community meeting participants in the hall with Cr Margie Ryder. Image supplied by Margie Ryder.
Participation in this meeting by local residents was most appreciated and we are grateful for having a local councillor who is willing to drive up our range road regardless of feeling quite unwell let alone having to manage car sickness with doses of ginger. Appreciation also for Nick Dametto meeting with Margie and the PDCA president at 9am to discuss improving the Paluma Village entry signage. Nick is one ‘ever-ready bunny’ and doesn’t suffer car sickness as he truly enjoyed his motorbike ride up the range road to meet with us.
Margie has noted the tropical BBQ on December 9th in her calendar and our next community meeting will be around this time, if not earlier.
On Sunday, August 20th at 10 am the PDCA is hosting a community meeting with our Townsville City Council representative, Margie Ryder. This will provide an opportunity for Margie to report on what the Council has been doing and to listen to any concerns that Paluma residents may have relating to council facilities and initiatives. Items that we will be inviting Margie to comment on include:
Plans for signage at the village entrance, and upgrade of other signs around the village
Dog Poo bag dispensers and other issues on animal control (Cats, noisy dogs)
Community security in the light of multiple recent events in and around the village
Road Maintenance
Vegetation control (weeds)
The meeting is open to all Paluma Residents. Please come along to have your say.
On Sunday, August 20th at 10am the PDCA is hosting a community meeting with our Townsville City Council representative, Margie Ryder. This will provide an opportunity for Margie to report on what the Council has been doing and to listen to any concerns that Paluma residents may have relating to council facilities and initiatives. Items that we will be inviting Margie to comment on include:
Plans for signage at the village entrance, and upgrade of other signs around the village
Dog Poo bag dispensers and other issues on animal control (Cats, noisy dogs)
Community security in the light of multiple recent events in and around the village
Road Maintenance
Vegetation control (weeds)
The meeting is open to all Paluma residents. Please mark this date and come along to have your say.
In the last month we have had an attempted break-in at the Inn, illegal squatting in one of the residential properties, vandalism at Little Crystal Creek picnic area and repeated episodes of cars hooning and speeding in the vicinity of the Village. This sudden increase in illegal and antisocial activity is a major concern. While the police have been notified of these occurrences, it would be useful for members of the Community to get together and discuss how we can ensure there is increased vigilance and early warnings of any potential incidents around the village as well as prompted and detailed reporting as soon of any actual incident.
I suggest that we hold a Community Neighbourhood Watch meeting this Saturday at 1 pm in the Community Hall so that we can review what is happened and what actions we, as a community, could take in order to reduce the risks and increase overall security and peace of mind in the Village.
The PDCA executive group will also be meeting earlier in the morning and will discuss this issue (as well as other matters) and will provide some thoughts on how the PDCA, local government and local police might be able to help with this spate of unfortunate incidents.
Serving the Community for 40 years – Happy Birthday Paluma RFB!
Last Saturday the fire gods were shining down on the Paluma Community Centre and our beloved fire truck ‘Paluma 51’ was adorned with yellow and red balloons to give thanks to past members of the Paluma Rural Fire Brigade.
A modest but jubilant crowd of 30 people gathered to raise their glasses and help celebrate the 40th Anniversary, including a couple of visiting families. Paluma 51 as always was popular with the children. Don kindly manned the BBQ to cook an array of BBQ meats to perfection which was accompanied by gourmet salads of the exceptional Paluma standard.
Following lunch, 1st Officer Ross Hyne thanked those who had made the Brigade what it is today, still here after 40 years and to others for helping celebrate this auspicious occasion. Lynn Hyland provided some early historical narrative on the very beginnings of the Brigade which humbly started in April 1983 with a small loan from the Paluma Progress Association to purchase a trailer for housing firefighting equipment.
Following the speeches, the cutting of the cake was undertaken by some of the longest serving members of the Brigade, founding member and former 1st Officer Len Cook and Lynn and Les Hyland who have been active members for 36 years.
May the Brigade be here for another 40 years!
Interested in joining the Brigade or wondering how you can get involved? New members are always welcome. For more information, please contact Sonya on (0474) 324 153.
Text by Sonya Bryce, Secretary/Treasurer, Paluma Rural Fire Brigade.Photos by Sonya Bryce and Michele Bird.
This year’s Annual General Meeting was well attended with 25 people in attendance. Don Battersby and Lynda Radbone manned the BBQ to provide a lunch beforehand which may have helped to bring in a range of members from around the village.
The AGM minutes will be posted on the Member’s area shortly, together with the President’s Report, Financial Statement and History Project Report.
This year there were advance nominations for two new members of the Committee, who were elected unopposed (Anneshka Brown as Vice-President, and Juanita Poletto as Secretary).
Sarah Swann decided not to run for office this year, and I would like to thank her on behalf of the PDCA for her efforts on several PDCA initiatives and inputs into discussions over the last few years.
The remaining Committee Members agreed to stay on for another year and were elected unopposed. After a call from the floor for other nominations to fill available positions, I am delighted that Leonie Crennan and Linda Whitely agreed to join the committee.
It is great that we start this year with four new faces on the Committee and with the position of Secretary filled after more than two years.
The final composition of the PDCA Committee is listed below.
President
Jamie Oliver
Vice-President
Anneshka Brown
Secretary
Juanita Poletto
Treasurer
Wilfred Karnoll
Committee Member (SES)
Charlie Allen
Committee Member (RFS)
Ross Hyne
Committee Member
Lyn Hyland
Committee Member
Jill Meads
Committee Member
Leonie Crennan
Committee Member
Linda Whitely
If anyone is interested in reading a summary of events and achievements for the year, you can download the President’s Report here.
