BRISBANE ratepayers will receive a separate water bill from January, following the formation of a huge council-owned water distribution company. The change is likely to coincide with another hike in water charges, expected to push the average Brisbane household water bill above $600 a year, nearly double what it was five years ago. The company, Queensland Urban Utilities, will handle the distribution and sale of all water to homes and business in Brisbane, Ipswich and towns in the Lockyer Valley.

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In a stunning win for the diplomacy of Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay mayors Bob Abbot and Allan Sutherland, the state government has agreed to let them “go it alone” in forming a water distribution and retail entity. Natural resources minister Stephen Robertson yesterday said discussions resulted in an agreement to change the original composition of three water entities to serve south east Queensland, which will see western councils team up with Brisbane and Scenic Rim instead of the two northern councils. The groupings are now - Brisbane combined with Scenic Rim, Ipswich, Somerset and Lockyer; Gold Coast together with Logan and Redlands, and Sunshine Coast with Moreton Bay.

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Updated on Monday, July 13, 2009 at 10:55AM by stevem

The mayors of Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay councils have expressed dismay at the state government’s announcement of new water businesses. While the decision to create three entities, was a positive alternative to the government’s original monolithic single entity proposal, mayor Bob Abbot said there was “no logic” in the other councils being part of it. Under the plan, Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay would join with Ipswich, Somerset and Lockyer councils to form one water distribution and retail business. The Council of Mayors of South-East Queensland had lobbied the government to consider alternative plans to a one-entity water system.

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The Sunshine Coast may be one Bligh government decision away from becoming part of a 250-kilometre-long “Noosangatta”, running from Noosa to the southern Gold Coast. The state government is considering plans to extend the Caloundra South area to accommodate another 50,000 people, on top of the 50,000 already earmarked for the area. Critics say the Labor government would be approving housing on land even the pro-development Bjelke-Petersen government vowed would never be touched. The open space standing in the way of “Noosangatta” is the environmentally sensitive Hall’s Creek catchment area south of Bells Creek.

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Updated on Monday, June 15, 2009 at 08:44AM by stevem

RATEPAYERS will face further hip-pocket trauma when the State Government slashes its funding to local councils in its Budget tomorrow. The funding changes will result in annual subsidies paid to all councils capped at $45 million from 2011-12 - one-third of current levels. The decision will spark outrage from mayors and councillors already preparing to hand down record rates rises of up to 10 per cent, which they say are necessary to fund infrastructure.

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Local government minister powers will also extend to suspending or revoking an “unsound council decision, including local laws and resolutions”. “This will allow potential issues to be rectified quickly and reduce administrative red tape. Of course, a show cause process will precede any exercising of this power and specific requirements for gazetting notification will ensure transparency,” Ms Boyle said. The new laws are expected to come into effect in December.

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The state government is about to receive an amalgamation bill from the Sunshine Coast council for $13.7 million. A council budgetary meeting yesterday produced a list of costs forecast to June, 2012, covering the new council’s first term but excluding ongoing items not immediately assessable, such as permanent signs and branding, staff transition costs and working group time. The bill includes the cost of information technology changes at $9.6 million, insurance ($2.1 million), leases and refurbishments ($1.55m), vehicle costs ($1.5m), consultants’ costs ($1.1m), changeover signs and branding ($319,000), and training ($151,000).

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The opposition and environmentalists have slammed state government plans to allow the planning minister to override the provisions of the new South East Queensland Regional Plan. The LNP and Sunshine Coast Environment Council say the move would open the door for potential corruption and backroom influence of planning decisions in Queensland. Section 5.1 of Part F of the draft SEQRP 2009 2031 enables the regional planning minister to gazette, designate or identify any part of the south east corner to be future growth, urban growth, an interim rural or permanent rural precinct or an area zoned for rural residential purpose. The provision would effectively give the minister, who in the new Bligh cabinet is former property council research and policy manager Stirling Hinchliffe, the power to override the region’s principle planning document.

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If state government planning projections hold true, the Sunshine Coast will be unable to avoid what it most fears – ending up like the Gold Coast. Picture the Gold Coast two years ago and you would be looking at a community 11% smaller than what the government wants this region to become within a little more than two decades. That is the message community groups responding to the south-east Queensland regional plan review want each of us to understand. They say the SEQ plan review caters for a Sunshine Coast population of 518,000 by 2031. The Gold Coast population in 2006 was 466,500.

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THE cost of Queensland’s controversial local council amalgamations is spiralling, with ratepayers set to fork out a further $100 million to foot the bill. Despite State Government claims that merging councils would save money, many are struggling to offset the costs of amalgamation and are asking for extra funding. Council lobby group the Local Government Association of Queensland said amalgamation costs had been severely underestimated. “Councils have significant outlays to make,” acting director Greg Hoffman said. “We are estimating the government will need to spend $100 million over the next 10 years to enable councils to implement the changes.”

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