Things have changed for the Toowoomba City Council since the end of June 2005 when they submitted the NWC application for funding for the recycled sewage project.
Up until June 2005, Council had kept the project rather secret, burying costs in forward budget estimates.
There must have been a flurry of activity at the Council towards 30 June as they hurried to complete the application. It does seem that only the small "deal team" were privy to the contents of the application.
It took many months for the application to be surrendered by the Council to members of the Toowoomba community following a Freedom of information request. The Council certainly dragged its heels on the request. Some say that Council would still be trying to avoid releasing the application if it weren't for the resignation of the Council CEO who departed to Logan city.
Was the release of the application his parting gift to the water debate?
We'll probably never know for sure.
However, the release of the NWC application opened a Pandora's box.
For months, Council had been telling the Toowoomba community that there were no other options and that the recycled water project was the only way to solve Toowoomba water problems during the current drought.
The NWC application showed that the Council's costings of the alternatives were suspect. (We already knew that the State government had rubber stamped the Council suspect figures.)
It also showed two major deficiencies - the treatment of the Gowrie Creek irrigators and the disposal of the RO waste stream
For Gowrie Creek irrigators, the news was not good. They would lose their water completely - it seems the Council gave zero consideration to their concerns.
For the RO waste stream, Council were advised that they better negotiate with Acland Coal to get them to take it otherwise the project would cost another $66 million as 600 hectares of evaporation ponds would be required. Council were advised that the smaller 68 hectare evaporation pond alternative was "full of uncertainties".
Council has still not reached agreement with Acland Coal. Recent press reports indicate that they were expecting to get high quality recycled water from the Council, not the RO waste stream. It remains unclear how the coal workers (and their union) will feel about handling this waste product.
So it's clear that the Council did not really consider the impact of the recycled sewage project on existing water resources and the disposal of the RO waste stream.
What's also clear is the Council did not consider Toowoomba residents and the surrounding shires.
The Mayor's "
drink it or you can buy bottled water" approach to community engagement has done far more damage to the recycled water industry than could ever have been imagined.
One researcher has labelled the Council's approach as "
pathetic".
What must other industry players think?
And the Council now faces the loss of several surrounding shires as water customers should they proceed with the recycled sewage project.
What impact will that have on the financial viability of the project?
Finally, we come to the most recent turn of events.
For months, Mayor Thorley has claimed that 70% of the community support her project.
Opponents denied this was the case. It would indeed be extraordinary if Toowoomba bucked all known research on this issue.
The Mayor was put on the spot on the 7.30 Report and stated that she "
didn't have a clue" how many supported her project.
Perhaps she knew that a video image of her mentioning 70% support could easily come back to haunt her.
Her comments on the 7.30 Report seem to reflect the Council's real view - they have no idea what support there is in the community for their recycled sewage project.
The Federal government's decision to link funding for the project with a referendum (and other conditions) certainly seems to have had an impact.
Council affiliated support group Pure H20 packed up their kit and went home, declaring their campaign a success. For a group whose stated goal was to present a 20,000 signature petition in support of the Mayor's project to the House of Representatives in Canberra, they have an odd view of success. They packed up without their petition ever seeing the light of day.
Other parties close to the Council seem to have conceded defeat, believing that the Council will never win at a referendum.
And this week, perhaps the ultimate admission by the Council's Director of Engineering Services Kevin Flanagan. At a Water Facts meeting, he admitted that Water Futures was NEVER intended to get Toowoomba through the current drought.
This admission is the clearest indication yet that the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor and those working on the Water Futures project have perpetrated a fraud on the community.
On numerous occasions, the Council has argued that the community must accept the recycled sewage project because there are no other options. Now we hear that the Water Futures project won't solve the current water problems and Council will source water from bores and the State government will pipe water in from "somewhere".
As an example, if your doctor told you that you must have a operation and that there were no other options and, right before the operation, he then tells you that the operation won't actually fix your ailment, you'd be pretty annoyed, wouldn't you. You'd think seriously about changing doctors!
How is the Council's action any different? It's not - if it looks and sounds like misleading and deceptive conduct it probably is.
Life is now much tougher for the Council. All eyes are on them. Everyone is watching their conduct. Is the latest action by the Mayor a breach of the Councillors Code of Conduct? What other legislation has been breached? Will the Council be sued by the irrigators or will some other party obtain an injunction? How will they deal with the referendum? Will ratepayers' money be spent funding the "yes" campaign?
Privately, they may be wishing that it would all go away. However, they brought it on themselves and have only themselves to blame for the mess they are in ...
