Snippets from Gold Coast City Council meetings

Meeting 455 - 20th August 2007

In what can only be seen as a disaster for the Gold Coast, the Mayor stated that under level 6 water restrictions, the Water Commission plans that 125ml of water from the desalination plant be diverted to Brisbane daily, along with 135ml from Hinze dam.

In a subsequent printed article the Mayor confirmed that THE ENTIRE 125ml daily output from the desalination plant will be piped to Brisbane ( pipes that Gold Coast residents are paying for ), along with 130ml per day from the Hinze dam. He went on to point out that the current average yield ( and we are currently NOT experiencing average conditions ) is 191ml per day. This city's current rarely achieved consumption target on level 5 is 130ml daily, and will be further reduced under level 6, yet the Water Commission is allocating only a hypothetical 61ml daily topup. So the drain on the dam will more than double our already restricted consumption if the Commission has its way.

What does the Commission propose to do for coast residents if the dam runs dry? And it will happen very fast if they have their way.

Instead of building a desalination plant for Brisbane at one of its own seaside suburbs, Peter Beattie has hijacked the Gold Coast project and is prepared to let us suffer whilst he bails out Brisbane which allowed its residents to continue to waste water when we were struggling a couple of years back.

It's time Gold Coasters stood up to this theft of our water and water infrastructure.