The $41,000 Water Book - the community gets PR'd to death ...

In the Chronicle today, Mayor Thorley made the following comment:

"It is with great misgivings that I see an Australian community that is turning in on itself in the way that it is," she said. "Those people who are doing this for whatever political or personal agendas, I would hope that they would actually step up to the plank and understand we are not talking about politics. We are talking about security of water."

Unfortunately, the Mayor's controversial recycled sewage project has little to do with security of water.

The Water Futures project does not drought-proof Toowoomba. It does not solve the medium to long-term water needs for Toowoomba's residents.

Even with the recycled sewage project, residents would be required to cut their water consumption by a further 20% (so says the NWC application).

The Mayor's project is all about making money. The Council doesn't want to buy water off other suppliers - it wants to "manufacture" sewage water - it's a much more profitable business.

What the Mayor doesn't understand is that the Toowoomba community is not "turning in on itself". It is questioning the validity of certain decisions being made by its elected officials. The community is questioning whether those decisions are being made in their best interests and it is wondering why, as stakeholders, they are not involved in the process.

The only way a project such as the Mayor's could ever go forward would be if there was extensive stakeholder involvement in the decision making process.

The use of continual PR tactics such as the $41,000 Water Book only makes the community more suspicious of the Council's motives.

Indeed, the community is in grave risk of being "PR'd to death" by the Council's propaganda machine ...