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Councillor takes Division 1 residents concerns to Dam Taskforce chief |
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 04 August 2006 |
MAROOCHY Shire Division One Councillor Greg Rogerson met with the Community Futures Task Force chairman, Major General Peter Arnison last Friday about the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam.
Major General Peter Arnison invited Cr Rogerson on to the taskforce to advocate on behalf of the Maroochy Shire residents affected by the proposal.
While I still don't support the dam, as the local council representative, I need to have direct communications with the Taskforce, Cr Rogerson said. To put it in a nutshell it's far better to draught the cattle inside the yards than trying to draught them on the outside. While we always knew that Peter Arnison's direct role was never going to be the avenue to protest against the dams, he will be able to take our legitimate concerns to the government such as capital gains tax, lease arrangements and correct mapping and so on.
At Maroochy Shire Council's recent ordinary meeting Cr Rogerson moved a resolution, unanimously supported, to investigate the feasibility and cost benefit analyses of all alternatives to the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam. Part of the resolution also identified the effectiveness of banding together with other local councils from Maroochy to Hervey Bay to share the expenses among like-minded councils. This would build on the plethora of individual submissions already directed to the state, categorically stating that the Mary should not be dammed.
Cr Rogerson said he was concerned by the lack of commitment from the state to help Sunshine Coast councils remove their treated effluent from the Maroochy River and the Pacific Ocean.
The reuse of effluent for industry and agriculture should be mandatory, Cr Rogerson said. If the State Government was to help Sunshine Coast councils get their A+ standard effluent either through or over the Blackall Range to be used by all farmers in the Mary Valley, it would immediately free up all the water allocations currently being drawn from the Mary River.
This would be exceptional for the ongoing life and ecology of our waterways and it just might pave the way for a contingency plan to supply Brisbane with precious water, should they run dry.
But Cr Rogerson said effluent reuse should only be seen as part of the ongoing strategy to drought proof southeast Queensland.
All alternatives to future dam construction need to be explored thoroughly. Large rainwater tanks on each and every home are a definite must and the level raising of existing dams and storage supplies, should not be overlooked.
The first combined meeting of all local councils opposed to the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam will be held at Gympie on the August 11 and it is expected that a joint strategy will be worked out and endorsed at that meeting.
This will give some encouragement and hope to many thousands of people suffering over what must Cr Rogerson described as a very unjust cause.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 02 September 2006 )
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Range News 2005 - ON 
