Mayor Thorley - why the obsession?
The recycled sewage debate makes you wonder why:
- Mayor Thorley is obsessed with making Toowoomba's residents drink recycled sewage
- the Council quickly dismisses other possibly viable water sources
- Mayor Thorley ignores the recommendations of the Sustainable Cities Inquiry Report
- the Council perpetuates the myth of the independence of certain advisers
- Mayor Thorley continues to believe she has the support of the community
- the Council misleads the public as to how long the water in the dams will last?
It really does make you wonder ....
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 12:01 PM
7 Comments:
Yeah, why is the council so fixated on this.
What's wrong with looking at all the options?
The water's not going to run out - we have time.
8:29 PM, January 15, 2006
There must be a big pay off in the end!!!
7:25 AM, January 16, 2006
Exactly which Inquiry into Sustainable Cities recommendation is Councillor Thorley ignoring?
Is it the one that says:
Recommendation 12
"The committee recommends that COAG, as part of the National Water Initiative, fund an aducation campaign educating the public about the benefits, economics and safety of using recycled water."
Sounds to me that the committee thinks that using recycled water has benefits, and is safe and economical.
8:37 AM, January 16, 2006
Someone's been reading the Sustainable Cities Inquiry Report, which is more than can be said for the Mayor.
However, Recommendation No. 13 of this report states:
"the Committee recommends that the National Water Commission, in consultation with the States and Territories and the public, prepare an independent and transparent report on water options for each of the capital cities and major regional centres".
Why does the Mayor ignore a recommendation which says let's have an independent look at all the water options.
What is she afraid of? That her controversial recycled sewage proposal doesn't stack up against other alternatives?
Why can't you read about this recommendation on the Toowoomba Water Futures website?
10:08 AM, January 16, 2006
Why can't you read Ian Macfarlane's Downs Diary comment on the project on the Council's website?
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.
10:15 AM, January 16, 2006
As far as I know Mayor Thorley is an Environmentalist.
Radical environmentalists often blame humans on a whole for the destruction of the environment and often look at procedures to protect the environment with total disregard to the effect or wishes of other humans.
Mayor Thorley has shown no concerns (she just doesn't care) for how the people of this city feel about using and drinking recycled effluent and TCC has pressure on them to clean up the discharge into Gowrie Creek via treated effluent. What better way to clean up this water then to recycle 100% of it - 25% for Toowoomba residents, 25% for Hampton farmers and the rest to be sold to the highest bidders. Not only they does this plan attempt to clean this water up but it is cheap to install and generates a revenue raiser in an attempt to pay for the operational costs, and SLIGHTLY alleviates Toowoombas water shortage problems.
As I have said before it is a cheap, dirty plan that does not cater for future growth in this city. In fact if anything, it will stiffle growth in this city. If you look at the fact that most Australians are against drinking recyled effluent the flow on effect of that will make Toowoomba an unlikely place for developers and home-buyers to invest there money. I know 6 people who have left this city already because of this plan and we should ask TCC if the proposed high-rise units planned for the CBD will even get off the ground now, I do not believe they will.
TCC has shown no concerns for the economic effects of this plan on the city , they have done no study on this, which to me means they are just obsessed with making Toowoomba residents drink the stuff.
We need a balance between protecting the environment, supplying basic amenities, being socially responsible and ecomically progressive. I do not beilive TCC under the current mayor is capable of this!
4:08 PM, January 16, 2006
But the mayor said on radio that 70% of Toowoomba residents want to drink recycled water.
She wouldn't have been lying would she?
7:11 PM, January 17, 2006
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