Simply famous and slightly venomous ...

The blogs took centre stage in the Toowoomba Chronicle today in an article entitled:

Blogsites at centre of shaping water debate

The article made some interesting comments about the role of the blogs in the recycled sewage debate.

Here's a snapshot:

At least four blogsites exist, all purporting to follow the community debate.

Unlike websites, they are an interactive journal. Anyone can have a say and say anything. You can hop on to Water Futures, for example, and read the latest newspaper and radio articles, followed by people’s comments.

You could read “njta”, defending council’s forward planning on water and arguing “there has been no gross lack of infrastructure planning, and the current council is not to blame for the position we are in”.

Or you could visit “4350water”, another popular blog, and respond to “2woompa’s” call for council to be sacked.

According to Mr Manners, who has been associated with the Water Futures blog since council announced its plan to add recycled water to the city’s dam, blogsites were instrumental in securing the water referendum because politicians noted the public dissent.

Blogsites gave the community a forum to voice their disgust against a council that had been bullish in pushing its water recycling agenda, Mr Manners said.

And it was through the blogsites that juicy facts, reports and contradictions were brought to light and followed by the media.

Mr Manners said council had been “slow to come to terms” with blogsites as a mass communication tool.

“Council wants to channel the debate narrowly,” Mr Manners said, whereas blogsites allowed for open questions and opinion.

The blogs mentioned were:

Water Futures

4350water

Toowoomba Water Vote

Save Toowoomba Say No

Also dealing with recycled sewage issues is Lyle Shelton's blog.

The LAST thing the Council would want publicised are the blogs on this issue so the Chronicle's approach is very interesting ...