Federal MP Macfarlane calls for independent review of Toowoomba water supply options ...

Federal MP and Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources made the following comments on Toowoomba's proposed recycled water project in his most recent Downs Diary:

Downs Diary

Toowoomba’s water future -

A message from Ian …

As you know there has been a strong community debate about the future of Toowoomba’s water supply. The proposal by Toowoomba City Council to introduce treated effluent into the city’s drinking system has been widely discussed as has the further proposal to bring waste water from Brisbane to irrigate crops in the Lockyer Valley and west of Toowoomba.

Water is a very important issue in this region and needs to be supported by both the urban and regional communities of Toowoomba and the Darling Downs. We should all work towards a single, long-term, whole-of-region solution that includes residents, businesses and farmers.

Over the past 6 weeks, I have asked Council several times to consider alternatives other than the use of treated effluent for drinking water (via Cooby Dam). I have conveyed to the Mayor and councillors my concerns about growing opposition from the business community, community leaders, farmers and the general public to the proposal.

In a number of meetings I have asked if there were any other options and if a combination of the Council’s proposal and the farmers’ proposal was possible.

At the same time, I have been contacted by Commerce Queensland who have expressed their concerns and stressed the need to look at alternatives. I have also been told by the Department of Natural Resources, Queensland Gas and farmers that alternative water supply opportunities exist.

Since this time, the community has put forward a range of alternatives. I welcome the preliminary analysis of these options by Council and the Department of Natural Resources and Mines and I support the call for a detailed, independent audit of all the alternatives by an organisation or body independent of government, council and farmers.

However, people in the community still have concerns.

• The business sector is justifiable concerned about the potential impact of the use of treated effluent on Toowoomba’s future industrial development, especially in the food services and manufacturing sectors;

• We still don’t have a solution for local irrigators who will lose the majority of their water supply if water is to be diverted out of Gowrie Oakey Creek for this project; and

• 7,082 people signed a petition against drinking recycled sewage and my office has done a representative audit finding almost 70% of signatories live at an address where they will drink Toowoomba water.

All of these issues need to be worked through and weighed up. I believe Council is listening but we still have some way to go. I have asked the Toowoomba City Council to put the project on hold while all the options are thoroughly considered. They have responded to my request by saying that the proposal is going ahead as is.

Ultimately this is a Toowoomba City Council project to be built by the Toowoomba City Council and funded by the rate payers of Toowoomba and the taxpayers of Queensland and Australia.

On that basis it is up to Council to decide whether or not to proceed. However, I cannot support the proposal as it stands until all of these unresolved issues are properly addressed, detailed explanations on costings and technology made public, and all options fully investigated and costed.

If we are to tackle our water problems successfully we need a whole-of-region solution."