Toowoomba City Council's latest approach - keep blaming everyone else ...

Toowoomba City Council's Director of Engineering Services, Kevin Flanagan, is off to another conference in early May.

This time it's the Enviro 06 conference in Melbourne between 9-11 May.

His topic - Water Futures - Indirect Potable Use.

Admittedly, the deadline for conference papers was earlier this year and the debate has moved on since then. However, Mr Flanagan takes the opportunity to slam CADS as the reason for the difficulties Toowoomba City Council are encountering convincing Toowoomba residents to accept drinking recycled sewage.

In the paper to be delivered at the conference in May, Mr Flanagan states:

"Toowoomba is necessarily at the forefront of this communications challenge. Its ability to provoke a thoughtful and informed public discourse on this subject will influence others in Australia and across the world as the internet and blogging continue to shape public discussion of issues. This topic is particularly vulnerable to being driven by emotion resulting in complete intentional or inadvertent emotionalization of the issue."

"The importance of understanding and reframing how people think about water has never been more critical than it is in Toowoomba. It is important that Toowoomba be able to engage their public in a reasoned discussion rather than have decisions focus on seemingly emotional, irrational responses over the origin of recycled water and overstated health risks."

"A group opposed to potable use of recycled water, Citizens Against Recycled Sewage (CADS), has formed. Armed with "facts", "figures" and "reports" all sourced from the internet, CADS seek and obtain media coverage to scare the populace and to promote conspiracy theories."

Looking at some of the points:

"Its ability to provoke a thoughtful and informed public discourse on this subject"

- from a Council which refuses to hold any public meeting to debate the issue of recycled sewage for drinking purposes.

"as the internet and blogging continue to shape public discussion of issues"

- no denying that.

"this topic is particularly vulnerable to being driven by emotion"

- wonderful emotional statements like "we'll run out of water" and "there'll be no money for other water sources if you reject the referendum".

"resulting in complete intentional or inadvertent emotionalization of the issue"

- water industry jargon.

"it is important that Toowoomba be able to engage their public in a reasoned discussion"

- 10 months on and the Toowoomba community is still waiting for the Council to organise one group meeting to engage in meaningful discussions on community concerns.

"seemingly emotional, irrational responses over the origin of recycled water and overstated health risks."

- Council has never answered questions regarding the long-term health risks of drinking recycled sewage - parading an "expert" through Toowoomba to declare that his 5 year old would drink it doesn't really count.

"A group opposed to potable use of recycled water, Citizens Against Recycled Sewage (CADS), has formed."

- CADS has been the centre point for opposition to the Council's controversial recycled sewage project. However, many Toowoomba people opposed to drinking recycled sewage have never met CADS. The blogs and websites now springing up do not appear to have any links to CADS - they are ordinary citizens outraged at Council's plans and their conduct over this issue.

"armed with "facts", "figures" and "reports" all sourced from the internet"

-a significant amount of the information used by those opposing the Council's plans come from the Council's own National Water Commission application, the document they resisted giving to the public under a FOI request.

- some of the "facts, figures and reports" do come from the Council's own websites and a lot of that information is quite misleading.

"CADS seek and obtain media coverage to scare the populace and to promote conspiracy theories."

- there does appear to have been a shift in media reporting in Toowoomba. Once it became clear that Council had misled the public (and the media) on the issue of the need for the recycled sewage project otherwise the water would run out, the media has given more air and print space to those opposing the Council.

- asking that all water source options be independently assessed is hardly scaring the public, nor is asking for confirmation that there will be no long-term health risks from drinking recycled sewage, nor is pointing out that the Council's proposed mix of 25% recycled sewage is not done anywhere else in the world and even Council's own advisers think it is "high by international standards".

- there have certainly been plenty of conspiracy theories floating around. Who know what offers of consulting roles post-retirement have been offered should the recycled sewage project proceed. We may never know, particularly if the project does not proceed.

Mr Flanagan will be preaching to the converted in Melbourne. His time might be better spent in Toowoomba "engaging the public in a reasoned discussion" as outlined in his paper ...