The 4350water Blog highlights some of the issues relating to proposals for potable reuse in Toowoomba and South East Qld. 4350water blog looks at related political issues as well.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Toowoomba Water Supply Task Force looks at options ...

From Saturday's Chronicle:

Toowoomba Water Supply Task Force

The Task Force invites submissions on additional options for securing future water supplies from Toowoomba and surrounding areas.

The options already identified include:

- Accessing groundwater from the Condamine alluvium
- Oakey Creek groundwater
- Recycling for non-potable uses to offset existing potable supply
- Increased access to the Great Artesian Basin
- Increased access to the Toowoomba basalt resource
- Obtaining supply from existing dams including Coolmunda, Wivenhoe or Boondooma
- Supply from new dam proposals
- The treatment and piping to Toowoomba of Western Downs coal seam gas water.

Have your say!

If you would like to make a written submission on any additional options the Task Force would like to hear from you.

Submissions should be sent to the Task Force at the following address by Friday 17 November 2006:

Executive Officer
Toowoomba Water Supply Task Force
Department of Natural Resources and Water
PO Box 318
Toowoomba Q 4350

Telephone enquiries may be made to Phil Sternes on 07 4688 1045.



So, there ARE other options!

Where would we be now if this approach had occurred in July 2005 ...

'Mood of disarray' to blame for lack of local investment ...

From ABC News:

'Mood of disarray' to blame for lack of local investment

27 October 2006

A critic of Toowoomba's water recycling plan has dismissed predictions the local housing market will suffer because the project was rejected in a referendum.

In July, residents rejected a proposal to add recycled effluent to the city's drinking supply.

Real estate expert Michael Matusik says the current water shortage and the referendum are starting to have an effect on potential home buyers.

But councillor-elect Snow Manners says that is a long bow to draw.

"What is affecting the market is the very bad reputation that Toowoomba got across Australia," he said.

"If I speak with my industry colleagues a lot of investors are a little reluctant to invest in Toowoomba whilst there is a mood of disarray in our water situation and within the decision making of the council."

See - ABC News - 'Mood of disarray'.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Mayor Thorley in full song ...

Her "history" of the recycled water debate and the No campaign's so-called "scare campaign".

In her own words.

All the politicians get a serve. Even the blogs rate a mention.

See - AEF Conference - 23-24 September 2006.

To listen, click on "water issues" under 8.30pm - Toowoomba’s Mayor Dianne Thorley will speak on water issues.

Why Mayor Thorley's not going flag pole gazing in Adelaide ...

Perhaps it's because she's in Brisbane at yet another conference on 2 November and it's too much effort to get down to Adelaide for the Pageant on the 4th.

This time she's appearing at the IPAA State Conference 2006 as their keynote speaker at the conference dinner.

Her topic - Serving the Public Good:What happens when the public don’t want to be served?

See - IPAA State Conference program.

Interesting topic.

Given Mayor Thorley's conduct over the past 18 months, perhaps a better topic would be:

- Serving the Public Good:What happens when the public servant doesn't want to serve?

It's also interesting how the Toowoomba City Council continues to propagate its view of recent history. Mayor Thorley's speech outline is a good example:

"A referendum on the issue was recently rejected by Toowoomba residents despite the community offering no viable or immediate alternative solution."

That must be a pretty empty table that all the options are back on, at least based on the view of Mayor Thorley and the remnants of her Yes campaign team ...

MP Turnbull's electorate includes Sydney's highest water users ...

For someone who preaches about the need to conserve and manage our water resources, MP Turnbull certainly doesn't seem to be having much impact in his own backyard.

His electorate of Wentworth includes the suburb of Woollahra (see - Wentworth electorate map - pre-redistribution), recently listed as the suburb with the highest average water use in Sydney.

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Richer areas continue to guzzle water

22 October 2006

Households in Sydney continue to reduce their water consumption, though its wealthiest residents still use far too much.


New Sydney Water data shows that annual average household water use has fallen by 7 per cent from three years ago, when restrictions were introduced.

The average household uses 237,000 litres a year, down from 255,000 litres in 2003-04.

However, the Woollahra local government area topped the list of water guzzlers for the third consecutive year, with households using an annual average of 328,000 litres. This year the council area clocked the highest number of fines for breaching water restrictions.

Before the restrictions, residents used 409,000 litres per household.

Next on the list of high water users were the Hunters Hill, Mosman, Ku-ring-gai and Strathfield council areas.

Residents in the Kiama council area used the least amount, averaging 170,00 litres a household.

See - Richer areas continue to guzzle water.

Perhaps he should spend time discussing water management with his own electorate before trying to force his views on other parts of the country ...

Mayor Thorley cancels trip to Adelaide to inspect flag pole ...

More wasted ratepayers' money.

This time, a trip to Adelaide on 4 November 2006 for the city's Credit Union Christmas Pageant.

You know Council employees preparing the relevant Committee meeting agenda and minutes are really scratching for reasons to justify the trip and the waste of ratepayers' money when they come up with the following as one reason for the trip:

"A visit to Adelaide will also offer an opportunity to inspect their 100-foot high centenary flag-post ... implemented to generate economic benefits to the region."

See - Council Committee Meeting agenda and minutes - 17 and 18 October 2006.

Who are you kidding? Flying across the country to see a flag pole?! Ridiculous.

Perhaps Mayor Thorley thought so too. After being listed in the Committee Meeting agenda as flying to Adelaide with Councillor Schneider, in the Committee Meeting minutes, she's leaving it to Councillor Schneider to fly solo ...

Monday, October 23, 2006

Dalby goes dual (purple) pipe for new subdivision ...

Another reason Dalby is fast becoming the model town for recycled water use in Australia.

Excerpt from the Chronicle:

Recycled water for Dalby subdivision

21 October 2006

By Sarah Vogler


Could Dalby be waiting in the wings to steal Toowoomba's Garden City title?

Maybe not, but Robin Hodge thinks it might come close.

And the Hallmark Property operations manager says his new development is the reason why.

The 75-lot subdivision, Trinity Green, being built in Dalby will be connected to town water, but will also have its own recycled water supply using water from Dalby's soon-to-be upgraded waste water system.


''It (the subdivision) has been constructed with an alternative water supply for gardens and for flushing toilets,'' Mr Hodge said.

The water will be available for the gardens and toilets of the subdivision by 2008.

Mr Hodge said the recycled water would be graded to a certain level for domestic use.

He said the idea for the alternative water supply came from the Dalby Town Council, which is starting work on a $10 million project to recycle water resulting from coal seam methane gas water.

''We weighed up the costs and benefits and made a very quick decision to accept.''

A decision applauded by Dalby Town Council deputy mayor Barry O'Shea.

Cr O'Shea said once the project was complete he was hoping more developers would come on-board.

He said apart from attracting more development, the extra water would also give the town more security.

''With the on-going dry conditions, there's virtually no water (left in traditional supplies).''
He said the extra strain new subdivisions would have put on the bores would have been ''virtually impossible to sustain''.


''Security (of water supply) is the real key,'' Cr O'Shea said.

See - Dalby - the model for recycled water use.

Toowoomba City Council by-election press reports ...

Reports on the Toowoomba City Council by-election win by Snow Manners.

Excerpts:

Snow Manners is not expecting a cool reception when he takes up his seat on Toowoomba City Council.

Though counting of votes from Saturday’s by-election is yet to be completed, Mr Manners appears to be the runaway winner of the seat made vacant by Lyle Shelton’s unsuccessful bid for election to the State Parliament last month.

With most of the vote counted before counting ceased Saturday night, Mr Manners had almost 30% of the vote with 13,819 votes, more than double his nearest rival, Hugh Rose, with 6343 votes or 13.4%.

...

However, Mr Manners said he did not envisage any problems among councillors when he takes his seat.

"That debate is over," he said of the Water Futures referendum. "As civic leaders we need to lead by example.

There is nothing to be gained by opening old wounds.

"This council, me included, is on clear notice that there must be a huge improvement in the way council presents itself, conducts business and engages with the community."

Once on council, Mr Manners said he would seek an accurate summary of the city's groundwater supplies, but he believed Toowoomba had adequate water supplies despite community fears.

The answer in the short term was tapping into the fractured basalt under the city, putting down an artesian bore at Wetalla and linking to a sub-artesian bore at Hampton.

"Those three sources are adequate for permanent supply on a restricted basis," he said.
"Then we still have the dams."


"The community can rest assured that Toowoomba cannot run out of water now that the development of groundwater supplies is well under way."

"I expect some positive reassurance will come from council in relation to water supplies while we await (State Minister for Natural Resources and Water) Kerry Shine s Task Force Report to provide options for long-term solutions."

See - Chronicle - Recycling opponent huge winner in council by-election.

Mr Manners says he is looking forward to fulfilling his campaign slogan.

"Water was an issue in the by-election because it seemed to be on the lips of every voter, but more than that it really is the way, the manner in which the council treated the community," he said.

"We campaigned under the slogan of, 'put manners in council', and I think that is exactly what we mean that let's be polite with our community and bring them into decision-making."

See - ABC News - Water recycling opponent elected councillor.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Following Saturday's by-election in Toowoomba ...

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Dual (purple) pipe subdivision takes off on the Gold Coast ...

Excerpt from the Courier Mail (after all their commentary on recycled water, they should get their terms correct):

Project to harness greywater

19 October 2006

Northern Gold Coast residents could be using up to 84 per cent less potable water within two years in an $80 million greywater recycling project launched yesterday.

The Pimpama-Coomera area is the first community in Queensland in which all homes will have dual-reticulation pipes – one carrying potable water and the other recycled water.

Gold Coast Mayor Ron Clarke, who helped turn the first sod for the recycled and wastewater plant yesterday, said the scheme would be up and running by the end of 2008.

"When fully implemented, it will service at least 120,000 residents in a 7000ha area and reduce the demand for drinking water in homes by 84 per cent," he said.

"Implementing such a diverse range of water-saving initiatives in one area on such a large scale is unprecedented in Australia."

Recycled water would be delivered to about 18,000 homes in the Pimpama-Coomera area via special purple pipes, Gold Coast City Council water sustainability chairman Daphne McDonald said.

The recycled water would be used for toilet flushing, garden watering and other exterior uses.

See - Gold Coast goes dual pipe.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

NWC - Toowoomba Yes campaign was unsophisticated ...

The NWC's 2006 Annual Report discusses the rejection of recycled water for potable use in Toowoomba.

It also refers to the current community consultation process in Goulburn which they believe will result in a more sophisticated model for community engagement.

See - NWC Annual Report - Page 19.

Adding the $460,000 spent on the Yes campaign and the other ratepayers' money Toowoomba City Council spent on Mayor Thorley's 'take no prisoners' approach and its various advisers and 'independent' experts, that's around $1 million for a campaign that is regarded by the National Water Commission as an unsophisticated approach to community engagement.

Well done!

Gas water update ...

Interesting program transcript from Landline on the expanding coal seam gas industry in Queensland and the spin-off water.

See - Landline - Resources boom revitalises Queensland's Darling Downs - 1 October 2006.

Governments bicker over water reforms ...

Kerry O'Brien makes MP Turnbull uncomfortable on the 7.30 Report.

See - Water has become just another war of words.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Penis puppeteers take on Poowoomba ...

Yes, they're coming to town!

Appearing at the Empire Theatre on 26 October.

But they're worried for the wrong reason.

One of the original puppeteers was quoted in today's Chronicle as saying "I'll bet the same people who don't like our show are the same ones who used the phrase "Poowoomba".

That's not the problem.

The risk they run is from a certain public official who has a peculiar habit of grabbing men's crotches - just ask the politicians down south!

Imagine the chaos if said 'public official' tries it during the puppeteers' performance.

Hope they're getting hazard pay for the trip to Toowoomba ...

See - Puppeteers fear crotch grabbing public figure.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Toowoomba Water Task Force - an update ...

From State parliament today:

Election promise:

Finalise report and act on recommendations from the Toowoomba Water Futures Task Force.

Action:

The Task Force met for the first time on August 14 and also met today. By 17 November it aims to have established the amount of water needed by Toowoomba up to the year 2050 and options for immediate action.

The Task Force will provide a final report to the government on its preferred strategy which will then be acted on.

See - Hansard Daily - 11 October 2006 - Page 31.

Sustainable housing for the future ...

The Aurora estate, Epping North’s new housing estate – one of the largest residential developments in Melbourne – is ready to go.

Recycled water will be delivered to all completed homes for use in toilets, garden and parkland watering.

Once Aurora is fully operational, its water management initiatives will reduce the use of drinking-quality water by up to 70 per cent.

See - Another great example of recycled water for non-drinking purposes.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

The top 10 people/groups who supported the Yes campaign ...

... yet contributed to its failure:

1. Mayor Di Thorley

Far and away the clear winner. She was at times both the Yes campaign's greatest asset and its greatest weakness.

Her 'you'll drink it or you can buy bottled water' approach to community engagement offended many Toowoomba residents right at the outset of the debate.

She sought to bludgeon her way to a Yes vote win, creating a culture of fear both within the Council and in the broader community. (The Sydney Morning Herald named it her 'take no prisoners' approach to recycled water.)

Unwilling to attend any forum in Toowoomba to discuss community concerns regarding her recycled sewage project. Preferred to spend time at water recycling conferences around Australia preaching to the converted.

Has since had a makeover, made an appearance on ABC's Media Watch and presided over Carnival activities.

2. MP Malcolm Turnbull

Tried his best to coerce Toowoomba into voting in favour of the great recycled sewage experiment.

His 'drink it or you'll get no federal funding' approach to recycled water was appalling.

He sought to rely on Mayor Thorley's scare tactic of Toowoomba running out of water with the added bonus of no federal funding for other alternatives.

Paid a flying visit to Toowoomba which cost countless Yes votes then joked at a Brisbane function that he was making the guests drink Toowoomba recycled water. A number of No campaigners wished he would have returned for another visit prior to 29 July - his visit seemed to be worth at least a couple of percentage points to the No campaign.

Still heading up Water issues for the Federal government - has no current plans to introduce a similar recycled water for drinking scheme into his electorate of Wentworth in Sydney - what ever happened to leading by example?

3. Deputy Mayor Joe Ramia

He promised to 'drop a rock' on people who opposed the Mayor's recycled sewage plans.

His aggressive and threatening style left many Toowoomba residents scratching their heads in bewilderment.

He also showed he had never read the Council's NWC funding application (although he wasn't the only one!), giving Toowoomba residents little confidence in his abilities as head of the Council's Water portfolio. Always odd that the head of the Water portfolio is one of Toowoomba's most prolific water users.

Failed to follow through on his promise to resign his Water portfolio if the No vote succeeded.

Still the Deputy Mayor - plans for the 2008 Council elections as yet unknown.

4. Premier Peter Beattie

His State government was an early and late supporter of Mayor Thorley's campaign (and largely silent in between).

He gave us quotes such as "It has never been the state government's policy to pump recycled water into dams" and "I repeat: using recycled water for drinking is not my government's policy" and declared that Toowoomba was an experiment and personally he wouldn't drink it.

Still the Premier.

5. Jeff Nolan

He promised a 20,000 signature petition in favour of drinking recycled sewage which would be tabled in Federal parliament.

He formed the Pure H2O group and set about gathering signatures. He failed to understand any of the previous studies and polls on drinking recycled sewage and his petition quietly died with Pure H2O imploding shortly after. The petition sheets can still be seen gathering dust in the odd doctor's surgery waiting room around Toowoomba.

He also qualifies for writing so many letters to the Chronicle that people really believed that a No vote meant 'no more Jeff Nolan'.

Still teaching. Not known to be requesting that Council make regular deliveries of NEWater to his house for his consumption.

6. Kirstie Smolenski

Another member of the Pure H2O group who decided that drinking recycled water was so good for you that she would have a national newspaper photograph her feeding it to her children.

Famously circulated the 'dihydrogen monoxide' email to Yes campaign supporters.

Also known for writing copious letters to the Chronicle. At one point, she claimed that the recycled sewage project would cause Toowoomba property prices to skyrocket, basing her belief on price increases in Orange county real estate. (Interestingly, San Diego real estate prices skyrocketed during they same period after they shelved their recycled sewage project. Perhaps there was another reason for the price increases in California?!)

Still writing letters to the Chronicle and just gave birth to another child - must be something in the water!

7. Dr Greg Leslie

An early arrival to (and departure from) the Toowoomba debate. He proclaimed that he would let his 5 year old drink the recycled water.

Was Toowoomba City Council's initial golden boy - touted by Council in the Toowoomba media, Council minutes and correspondence as their independent expert. Subsequently shown to be still consulting to his old employer, CH2M Hill, the company most likely to build the recycled sewage facility.

Not known to use the word 'Toowoomba' any more.

8. Drew Hutton and the Greens

Sought to hijack the referendum and turn it into an anti-dam festival.

Recruited people to come to Toowoomba to hand out how-to-vote cards on polling day. Seemed to think that drinking recycled water was the only alternative to building Premier Beattie's dams.

Awaiting next State election.

9. Council's Yes campaign team

A team which had $460,000 of ratepayers' funds at its disposal during the referendum period and could do little better than handing out balloons, movie passes, lollies, pizza and soft drink as it tried to convince Toowoomba residents to drink recycled sewage.

Had a habit of visiting schools to scare the children and thought marching the city's children through town was a great way to win votes. Circulated a weekly guide to their upcoming activities which was always fun to read.

Generally disbursed back to other council activities.

10. Linda Macpherson/CH2M Hill

Paid over $200,000 in consultancy fees and could do little better than reproduce incorrect brochures from the Singapore NEWater facility which showed nothing got through the membranes.

And who could forget the Disneyland photo! Stuff ups like this were free kicks for the opposition.

The CH2M Hill juggernaut continues on its merry way.

And one more for good measure:

11. Jenifer Simpson and the Australian Water Association (AWA)

With her background as an anti-dam lobbyist, Jenifer Simpson provided us with the '6 star rating guide to recycled water' and invented psychiatric disorders such as 'hydro-coprophobia':

"Well, 'coprophobia' is...is actually a real word and it means 'a fear of faeces' so I've put a 'hydro' on the front of it which means 'a fear of wastewater'." (ABC Four Corners).

Known for the odd scare tactic: "Swimming pools, I think, will be a thing of the past. I don't know what the Olympic swimmers are going to do. They'll have to practise in the sea, won't they?" (ABC Four Corners)

And seems somewhat fixated on the terms used to describe recycled sewage - Plunder down under.

Together with the AWA, she organised an 'independent' forum in Toowoomba to tell Toowoomba residents that recycled water was the best option (but no-one seemed willing to discuss the other options). The forum included vote winning statements such as "If Toowoomba doesn't do it [vote in favour of drinking recycled sewage] the Mary River will be dammed".

Believed looking for next target.

Toowoomba Water Task Force stumbles ...

From the Chronicle:

Changes to Water Task Force

5 October 2006

by Rebecca Vonhoff


THE last time Toowoomba's Water Task Force met, the city was on Level 4 restrictions.

That was in mid-August and Member for Toowoomba North Kerry Shine was preparing for an election.

Since then, Mr Shine has been re-elected and appointed Minister for Natural Resources and Water.

This ministerial role, Mr Shine says, precludes his being on the Task Force because effectively he would be making recommendations to himself.

"Since the first meeting of Task Force, I have become the Minister responsible for Water and it is inappropriate for me to continue on the taskforce," he said.

Mr Shine's exit from the group – created to find a solution to Toowoomba's dire water shortage – is not the only change.


Ken Murphy, of Commerce Queensland, has been included on the Task Force and Scott Spencer has replaced Bob McCarthy as the department head of Natural Resources and Water.

However, Mr Murphy was made aware of his appointment only after other members of the group and the media were informed.

Further confusion occurred yesterday morning as word of Mr Shine's departure reached some members "through the grapevine".

Mr Murphy said he was delighted with his appointment which meant Toowoomba and the region's commercial interests would be taken into account. "I'm very pleased that we're able to ensure business gets a voice," Mr Murphy said.

"It allows a more commercial approach to recommendations."

Federal involvement in local water management is expected to play a greater role since the creation of the Office of Water Resources and announcement of Malcolm Turnbull's leadership.

During a recent meeting between Mr Murphy and Mr Turnbull, the Office of Water Resources head "stressed the importance of getting moving", said Mr Murphy.

"It's still early days yet, but I believe there will be a very strong involvement from the Federal Government," he said.


The Water Task Force has until December 18 to make final recommendations to Mr Shine and Premier Peter Beattie.

Task Force member Peter Swannell said the "monumental task" in front of the group would necessitate more regular meetings.

See - Toowoomba Water Task Force stumbles.

Water and Australian Cities: review of urban water reform ...

Read the Engineers Australia report here - Water and Australian Cities: review of urban water reform.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Toowoomba becomes a university assignment focus - part 2

This time in the Psychology department at the University of Queensland.

See - PSYC3052 Assignment -Why did Toowoomba say ‘No’? (…to recycled water!)

Some excerpts (with annotations - to clear up some inaccuracies):

So…why did Toowoomba say ‘No’?

To try to answer our question we:

- ran a ‘FACTIVA’ (UQ Media Database) search using keywords: ‘recycled water AND Toowoomba’, over the past year. The search returned 368 headlines and articles. We scanned the articles and transcripts, selecting the ones most pertinent to our question


- performed a ‘Google’ search using the same keywords which returned 205,000 sites (too many to go through given our time limitation). We checked out myriad sites, blogs and video footage….

- Due to the overwhelming thousands of articles and sites available, we decided the most direct and reliable source of information was to go straight to the ‘horse’s mouth’ to verify what, out of the information we obtained above, was reliable.

- telephoned and spoke to some of the key players, was the most reliable. We spoke to:

Cr Kevin Flannigan
[sic], Toowoomba City Council - (spoke to PA): The Yes case [Wouldn't that be the horse's sidekick? And suddenly Mr Flanagan is a Councillor?]

Rosemary Morley – CADS (Citizens Against Drinking Sewage): The No case

Clive Berghofer - ex-mayor, charitable millionaire & land developer: The No case

Cr Keith Beer, Toowoomba City Council: The No case

[What - the authors missed a golden opportunity to hear from the real horse's mouth. Perhaps they were too afraid of the language.]

...

Key Players in The ‘Yes Case’:

- Toowoomba City Council - Mayor Dianne Thorley and many council members [well 5 others] advocated recycling water, through a project named Water Futures

- State and Federal Governments backed the campaign, pledging $22.9 million to the cause if the referendum was successful

-$460,000 ratepayer funded advertising campaign [Interestingly, the lack of ratepayer funds for the No campaign is not mentioned.]

- 100% State and Federal Governments education campaign backing [what exactly does this mean?]

The ‘Yes’ Argument:

- Recycled water is safe

- Recycled water is not expensive compared to the other options so there is no other option. We have weighed up and ruled out all other options.

- Toowoomba will be the pioneer of recycling water in Australia – a good show case for the rest of the country.

- Why would our Federal Government financially back a plan if it wasn’t safe for the people?

...

Key Players in The ‘No’ Case:

- CADS – Citizens Against Drinking Sewage headed by Rosemary Morley

- Clive Berghofer – Ex Toowoomba Mayor; charitable millionaire; land developer. (Donates $50,000/week to Toowoomba schools, sporting and other organizations and is a major funds contributor to QIMR - Queensland Institute of Medical Research).

- Other private local business owners and residents – notably ‘Snow Manners’ – “Close ally” (Berghofer)

- Three Toowoomba City Councillors – Lyle Shelton, Keith Beer & Graham Barron

- $100,000 privately raised campaign funding (funded in half by Clive Berghofer) [Not accurate]

The ‘No’ Argument:

- It cannot be concluded that recycled water is 100% safe. There is “evidence" that recycled water feminizes male fish and the same effect on humans can’t be ruled out.

- Is recycled water really the cheapest option?

- There are other options which haven’t been addressed.

- The ‘yuk’ factor

- Why should Toowoomba be the guinea pig?

- Toowoomba’s image will be ruined and as a consequence: (a) people would want to move away and no-one would want to come and live here; (b) tourism will suffer.

[Somewhat oversimplified.]

The Recycled Water Debate:

- was announced to the nation before being announced to the local community – angering the community that the rest of the country knew about it before they did. [This is completely wrong and shows a lack of research - Water Futures was announced to the Toowoomba community long before it hit the headlines in the rest of the country. It was through the work of opponents of Mayor's Thorley's scheme that the issue did become a state and national issue.]

- required people to form an opinion about consuming recycled water in a relatively short period of time (approx. 4 months), based on these arguments and the ‘evidence’ provided from both sides of the debate. Leaving minimal time for education. [Again completely wrong - Toowoomba City Council had 12 months from its initial announcement to discuss its proposals with the community - it actually had far longer to do so but preferred to keep its work on the recycled sewage proposal secret.]

- required people to suspend hot cog (or at least to balance it) and utilize cold cog analysis of the available data to make an informed decision.

- required people to overcome the ‘Yuk’ factor.

...

False Consensus:

- The advertising and media campaign put forward by the ‘Yes’ case fed a false consensus effect at a social level. For example, in Brisbane, many were under the impression that the referendum would be passed without much ado. The budget and organization of the ‘Yes’ campaign enabled them to widely and professionally publicize their case. (We believe our false consensus is responsible for the astonishment we felt when the outcome was a resounding ‘No’). [Not really the case in Toowoomba. Core No campaigners were not surprised at the referendum outcome - it reflected all polling and all research statistics. If anything, Council's free-spending campaign (using ratepayers' funds) garnered more No votes simply because it was an outrageous waste of money.]

...

Conclusion

So why did the people of Toowoomba say No! …Because they were forced to make an important decision in a relatively short period of time and the ‘availability’ and ‘representativeness’ heuristics used to make decisions were heavily influenced by the media’s focus on ‘the yuk factor’, distracting voters from their cold cog and playing on their hot cog.

[Again, nice story but somewhat inaccurate. 12 months is not a relatively short period of time and it is Council's fault they didn't announce their proposal earlier. As the debate continued, there seemed less and less focus on the Yuk factor (with the exception of a couple of blogs) and more focus on the existence and viability of other options. It is far too simplistic to say the Yes vote failed because there wasn't enough time and people focused on the Yuk factor which was played up by the media.]

They were bombarded with individual testimonies as evidence and failed to find their ‘inner intuitive statistician’.

[Quite correct that Council trotted out any man, woman or dog who they could say endorsed the Water Futures project - even if they didn't - part of the Council's 'say anything and do anything' campaign to force Toowoomba residents to vote Yes.]

Additionally, their community’s leaders were embroiled in a highly emotive and passionate debate: on the ‘No’ side an ‘everyday housewife’ (Morley) who they could identify with and a charitable millionaire (Berghofer), who funds half of Toowoomba’s sporting, recreational and schooling facilities and other charities; while on the ‘Yes’ case, a Council headed by a woman with little PR skills and a ‘rough as guts’ presentation who appeared to be on a personal mission (Thorley) and ‘a Government’ who were seemingly trying to ‘buy’ them. [At least they got the description of the Mayor right! And don't forget the MP Turnbull approach to Federal funding grants - 'you can drink it or die of thirst'!]

What have we learned (in Hindsight)?

...

As Kevin Flanagan, director of Engineering Services in Toowoomoba [sic] City Council so aptly put it: “The 'no' in Toowoomba is, ultimately, a failure in communication: first on the safety and reliability of water recycling as a policy option, and second on the urgency of Australia’s water crisis - future generations will want more of an explanation than simply 'the yuck factor'." (Cosmos Online, 31 July 2006.) [Actually, Mr Flanagan didn't say that - Karen Hussey did - see Cosmos Online. Mr Flanagan said - "I am frustrated, angry and disappointed.".]


Overall, it's not a bad attempt to understand the No vote in Toowoomba. There are some good points raised but the work falls down on research inaccuracies (including the gaff about the Flanagan quote at the end) and a general failure to understand some of the issues behind the Toowoomba water debate ...

Toowoomba becomes a university assignment focus - part 1

Seems the Toowoomba recycled sewage experiment is the focus of one of the assignments for SCI109 Environment and Health this semester at the University of the Sunshine Coast ...

MP Turnbull seeks an alternate water option ...

See - Zanetti cartoon - Multi, multi-millionaire MP, Malcolm Turnbull is appointed head of the new Federal Water Office - scroll down to the cartoon for 27 September 2006.

Preferred tenderers for Western Corridor Recycled Water network ...

Excerpt from Press Release by Minister for Infrastructure, Ms Bligh:

Water Grid begins to take Shape

2 October 2006

Acting Premier Anna Bligh today announced the preferred construction partners to build the vital Western Corridor Recycled Water network.

Ms Bligh said the two successful consortia are:

- McConnell Dowell and Abigroup in relation to the construction of pipelines between Bundamba and Tarong Power Station’s existing water supply system – the ‘western pipeline alliance’.

- AJ Lucas, Transfield Services and McCalls in relation to pipelines between Luggage Point and Bundamba – the ‘eastern alliance’.

See - Western Corridor Recycled Water network.

Tasmanian water recycling plant - a national example ...

Excerpt from ABC News:

Tas water recycling plant touted as national example

2 October 2006

The Federal Government is using Tasmania's biggest and newest water recycling scheme as a national example of how to save water.

Clarence City Council has built a $16 million water recycling plant on Hobart's eastern shore.

Treated effluent that was once released from the Rosny Sewerage plant into the Derwent River is now pumped up a 20-kilometre pipeline to the Coal Valley, where it is used on farms.


The federal Local Government Minister, Jim Lloyd, says the $8 million the Commonwealth put towards the scheme was money well spent.

"Showing the rest of Australia who are also suffering water shortages how with the Australian Government's help you can recycle and better use water," he said.

The Government hopes other councils will follow Clarence's lead and start recycling waste water.

Source - ABC News - Tasmania's non-drinking approach to recycled water.