Chairman’s Report 2019

09th December 2019

Chairman Report for AGM December 2019

It has been another busy year and again I would like to thank Mardi for the wonderful
secretarial work she does for us and also the rest of the board members for working on
projects to assist the Bowen and Collinsville area.

I would also like to thank the Whitsunday Regional Council for their support and assisting
with funding to cover our expenses for the year.

On a local front BCE have been working on the following projects.

Urannah Water Scheme

The Urannah Water Scheme has been our main focus and we have achieved a number of
milestones this year. Below is a summary of key points of the Urannah Water Scheme.

•  Preliminary Business Case completed and Dam proved feasible.
•  $3 Million spent and acquitted for this project with State Government.
•  PBC identified the following

• New 1.5 M ML Capacity Dam
• 1200 MW pumped hydro
• Irrigation scheme covering up to 22,000 Hectares
• Pipelines joining Peter Faust and Eungella Dams with Moranbah and
  Proserpine
• Water security for the future

• $10 Million funding for next stage is secured for the project
• Team has been set up and in place started work on this stage
• This stage includes
  o Detailed business case
  o EIS and Approvals
  o Full financial close
  o Early works

I would like to thank the project control group members of Dave Nebauer, Paul Crack, John
Findlay, Ken Donohoe and David Evans. I would also like to acknowledge John Cotter for
the work he has put into this project over the past couple of years. BCE has had Urannah on
the radar for many years with limited success. It has been working with John that has enabled
us to move this project forward. John has put his expert lobbing skills, his capital venture
skills, his own funding and has pulled together a team to take this project from the drawing
board to where it is today which is a real project with a great business case and huge interest
from the private sector and he has paved the way for investors to further support the project
development. This project is the only water project I am aware of that has attracted private
investment, so thank you John for your ongoing support and belief in the project.

Bowen Harbour

It is great to see the new rock walls being installed at the Bowen Marina. BCE has worked
with TMR during the year to ensure this project went ahead. While there were a few delays,
and the project is not completed yet, there are new walls in place which are already giving
protection to the harbour and will certainly assist should there be cyclone this season. The
next step for BCE to continue to work with TMR on further cleaning and greening work
around the harbour as well as general maintenance and lease agreements. To this point, BCE
have set up a small working committee to meet and work with TMR. I would like to thank
Paul Crack, Steve Darwin Terry Must and Terry Pilcher for the work in this area.
Next Steps for BCE

BCE has a great brand name and we have a wealth of knowledge around the table. What we
lack is resources for the doing part of the projects. BCE kick goals when we can seed fund
projects and I believe we need to look at doing more of this next year.
Below are projects we have discussed which we need to move forward

• Bowen Marina – Continue work with working group and TMR
• Collinsville Development Road – Complete white paper for lobbing State and Federal
  politicians for funding.
•  Liveability Project in Collinsville- Complete white paper with summary of issues and
  identify possible projects to assist with liability issues in Collinsville.
•  Agriculture Tertiary Processing plant – Kick start project again and complete a white
  paper to attract further funding to move forward.
• Catalina- Continue to support and assist with grant funding.

 

Regards
Paul McLaughlin
Chairperson
Bowen Collinsville Enterprise