Community Water Meeting - why Thorley, Ramia, Flanagan and Kleinschmidt will be a no show ...

Regardless of what else they may want to do on a Saturday afternoon, you would think that Mayor Thorley, Deputy Mayor Ramia, Kevin Flanagan and Allan Kleinschmidt would spare a half hour of so to attend the Community Water Meeting planned for tomorrow afternoon.

What's the harm?

It would send the community the message that the Council is prepared to discuss its controversial Water Futures project and answer the community's questions.

But no, they won't come.

Why?

Perhaps because they may have to answer questions which do not allow them to follow their prepared script.

Questions like:

- why was it necessary to grant the Yes campaign $460,000 of ratepayers' money in funding but $0 for the No campaign?

- where is that DNR hydrology report which forms the basis for the Water Futures project and why, as a Council, have you never insisted on seeing it?

- why did Council refuse to release the NWC application until it was forced to do so under a Freedom of Information request?

- why is it that Toowoomba must drink recycled sewage while all towns surrounding Toowoomba as well as Brisbane and the Gold and Sunshine Coast will not?

- why should Toowoomba residents drink 25-29% recycled sewage when nowhere else in the world does?

- why doesn't the Council insist that the Beattie government allow Toowoomba access to water from their new dams?

- why has the Council continually refused to have the other water source options independently assessed?

- why does Mayor Thorley state that she will make no more public statements but still plans to speak at a conference on the Sunshine Coast next month?

- why does Kevin Flanagan keep misleading people regarding the gas water?

- what will happen with the RO waste stream once Acland Coal mine closes or earlier if they don't want to take the RO waste stream and can the Toowoomba community support the extra $70 million in cost overruns and debt?

- why is the Water Futures project not an "experiment" if even Premier Beattie refers to the "recycled water trials in Toowoomba"?

All legitimate questions.

As highlighted recently on the Water Recycling blog:

- the community is interested in being meaningfully involved in water reuse decisions.

- the community is interested in finding ways to ensure independent and secure water supplies for their communities.

Organising 90 minute sessions in parks and schools and trying to force people to drink recycled Singapore sewage (when Councillors themselves are reluctant to do so) is not going to gain people's trust. Nor will misleading news-advertorials inserted in the Chronicle which present a misleading view of public events.

Trust must be earned - it can't be bought with the ratepayers' own money wasted on silly slogans and television advertisements.

As also highlighted on the Water Recycling blog, trust has shown to be maximised when the following conditions are met:

- dialogue is sustained

- the community has independent sources of information, not linked to the sponsoring agency

- the community can ask questions

- the community is involved early

- information is available to everyone

- behaviour is non coercive. It is considered a reasoned and fair way to make a decision

- everyone’s opinion matters, and there is a willingness to listen to all views and expand the discussion if necessary

- citizens have some level of control in the process (such as by contributing to the agenda or ground rules).

When one looks at the way the Toowoomba City Council has conducted itself over the past 10 months, could anyone honestly say that any one of the points listed above has been achieved?

Mayor Thorley's "you can drink it or you can buy bottled water" approach to community engagement is a complete farce.

The community is not stupid. The Council treats us as such at their own peril ...