Toowoomba Regional Council election - water a key issue ...

Excerpt from the Courier Mial (annotated):

Water on Toowoomba's election agenda

28 January 2008

Toowoomba residents opposed to drinking recycled water plan to turn the matter into a major issue in the March local government elections.

They are incensed that the State Government plans to link their water supply to Wivenhoe Dam, which will hold recycled water from Brisbane.

Two years ago Toowoomba voted in a referendum to defeat its council's plan to recycle local water to drought proof the city, where water is now critically low.

Faced with the prospect of the largest inland city running out of water early next year, the Bligh Government has accelerated plans for the pipeline, which should be built by the end of 2009.

It will cost about $200 million compared with $70 million for Toowoomba to recycle its own water. Running costs to lift the water more than 600m up to the Downs city also will impact further on ratepayers. [Everyone knows that the Toowoomba white elephant would never have cost $70 million.]

Anti-recycler [Rosemary] Morley said she could not believe the state had stepped in.

"As a community we have said no to drinking recycled water but apparently the voice of the people counts for nothing," she said. "Is recycled water from the Brisbane sewers different to that of Toowoomba?

"Why can't the Government spend the money to bring good clean water to our dams from Norwin and Chinchilla.

"Both these options were put forward to the council which, in its so called wisdom, dismissed the idea.

"This outgoing council has a lot to answer to. Like the State Government it does not listen to the people. This decision to pipe water will certainly put the recycled water debate back on the agenda for the upcoming local government election."

Toowoomba [outgoing] mayor said: "During the referendum I told the community that if we did not move ourselves we would be taking recycled water from Wivenhoe but people said this would never happen. [Actually she never said this during the Poll campaign because Beattie had not mentioned putting recycled water into Wivenhoe - he was waiting for the outcome of the Poll. Another attempt to rewrite history.]

"Now we are up for nearly triple the cost, our revenue earning capacity from selling excess water to a mining company is in doubt and we will probably lose control of our infrastructure as other south-east councils have." [The outgoing Mayor has no basis whatsoever for stating costs will triple. Like most things over the past 4 years, she's just making it up to put fear into the community.]

See - Courier Mail - water on the agenda.