"Chewy Water" on the back burner - another Federal MP agrees ...

Federal MP Ian Macfarlane is to be applauded for his sensible decision not to support the embattled Mayor's controversial plans to introduce recycled sewage to Toowoomba's drinking water supply.

Macfarlane is quoted in yesterday's Toowoomba Chronicle as saying "I am extremely concerned at the apparent lack of community understanding of and support for this project and it's imperative that these issues be addressed before the proposal can move forward."

He also said:

"In the past three weeks my office has been inundated with serious concerns about drinking treated wastewater.

I have also been exploring other alternatives which I understand haven't been fully assessed by the Council.

As a result, I met with the Mayor and told her that I couldn't support the proposal in its current form until all other possible alternatives had been fully investigated, costed and explained to the public.

Next week, I'm arranging to meet with the head of the National Water Commission to explore how we can keep our place in the funding queue while these options are considered.

I still support parts of the project to supply recycled water for industry, resources and agriculture. However, given information I have obtained from independent sources I am currently unable to support recycled effluent being discharged into Cooby Dam.

I believe viable alternatives exist and it is now up to council to come up with a unanimous proposal which I will take directly to the National Water Commission."


The Council has admitted that the recycled sewage project is not viable unless it involves putting the recycled sewage into the drinking water supply. So that's a significant problem for the project.

It does, however, open the way for other proposals, including the innovative QGC gas water proposal, to be assessed and costed. The embattled Mayor was quick to dismiss this project saying that they has assessed it and it wasn't viable. Mr Macfarlane has said the other alternatives have not been fully assessed by the Council.

Has the Council not been completely honest with Toowoomba's residents and ratepayers?