Paluma residents want flush of rain
REV UP A BUDDING BUSINESS Water threat still on boil
A CHEAP and cheerful car brand introduced to Australia in 1986 by a savvy Perth car dealer and colourful businessman, the late Alan Bond, has done the unthinkable.
Hyundai has shocked the industry by becoming the topselling car last month.
It’s the first time the South Korean brand has been in the top spot since the plucky Hyundai Excel knocked the Holden Commodore off its perch in June 1998.
Driven by a special offer of $ 19,990 drive away with automatic transmission and a rearview camera ( about $ 7000 off full price) the Hyundai i30 hatchback outsold the reigning champions the Toyota Corolla and Mazda3 in June, according to preliminary figures.
More than 5500 i30 hatchbacks were delivered last month, eclipsing Corollas ( 4150) and Mazda3s ( 4130).
The result is more remarkable once you take into account the i30 tally is for hatchbacks alone, whereas the Toyota and Mazda totals include both sedans and hatches.
The sedan version of the Hyundai i30 is sold with another badge, otherwise the leading margin would have been even greater ( more than 680 Hyundai Elantra sedans were sold in June).
Ute sales were also strong in the rush to the end of the financial year, filling three of the Top 10 places and Toyota HiLux taking second outright.
In another upset, the Volkswagen Golf, driven by sharp discounting, edged ahead of the Toyota Camry and just behind the Holden Commodore. IT IS Townsville’s own Shark Tank, an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to help make their business ideas a reality.
And with applications for the Philip Leong Bursary opening next month, local residents age between 15 and 26 years are being encouraged to put forward their best ideas.
Brent Storey was awarded a $ 10,000 grant last year and has gone on to open his own business.
He already owned a 50 per cent stake in the Sun City Harley- Davidson dealership but wanted to use that experience to expand his business interests. Sun City Yamaha opened about six months ago.
“I had experience in dealerships but wanted to start my own business,” Mr Storey, 22, said.
“I used the grant to attend some courses in Melbourne ... it gave me a huge leg- up.”
The bursary is now in its 10th year. It was started in honour of Townsville businessman Philip Leong, who died in 1999. Since then, 17 young winners have shared in $ 125,000.
Philip Leong Advisory Board chairman Angelo Coco said the program gave young people a chance to get a head start. But he said one of the proudest achievements was the mentoring that had come from it.
“That mentorship happened on a volunteer basis where some of the winners have gone on to help others,” he said.
“It would be hard to pick just one success story ... there are many.”
Mr Coco said there were many young people within the Townsville community with big ideas and he hoped to one day find another Mark Zuckerberg.
He said that helping just one young person get a start in life inevitably PALUMA residents are praying for rain so they can stop boiling their drinking water.
The township has had to do just that since the discovery of parasitic giardia in the creekfed water supply on June 10.
Rain in recent days means the time could come sooner than expected, with a review coming at the end of the week.
Townsville Deputy Mayor Vern Veitch said the problem was jointly caused by animals defecating in the catchment and groundwater rising over an old septic system and then into the small weir.
“The only thing that change it is if we get a downpour of rain,” he said. will big flowed positively on to the community.
“It is paying it forward,” he said. “We have many successful people in Townsville who employ people, who are doing incredibly well on a local, national and international level.
“But you have to be innovative in the current economic climate.”
He said the aim was to give a young person a “hand up, not a hand- out” and encourage them to help others.
Mr Storey encouraged young people to apply for a grant.
“It goes back 50 or more years when septic systems were installed in the catchment area of the small dam.
“Normally it doesn’t matter unless a bit of groundwater seepage gets in, which is what’s happened in this case due to the lack of rainfall.
“The percentage of groundwater that comes to the surface is higher in the dry season.
“Certain levels of giardia in the catchment are acceptable, but routine checks found a higher level than normal.”
The problem does not affect Paluma Dam and has no impact on Townsville’s water.
Townsville Water operations manager Mark Harvey said the body had been monitoring water quality closely and carrying out regular tests.
“We have had one further positive result and three clear results since the water alert was put in place,” he said. “The area has had a good flush of rain since, which will be beneficial, and we expect to make a decision on whether to lift the alert at the end of week when the latest test results come back.”
Mr Harvey said Paluma residents should continue boiling drinking water as a precaution until advised otherwise.
Paluma Community Association president Lynn Hyland said local residents were growing tired of the crisis.
“Our annual bush dance was held on Saturday night, with many visitors from out of town, and a lot of people asked if we could fill their water bottles, but we had to give them bottled water instead,” she said.
“I don’t know what tourists are doing that arrive and have no water with them. A lot of day- trippers don’t have water.”