January 21

Bill Hoffman

Residents now contemplating the environmental impact statement produced for the northern interconnector pipeline stage two would do well to discuss realities with those who have lived through the hell of stage one.

Whatever the words on the pages of the stage one EIS, that reality has left a trail of disgruntled home owners in its wake still waiting for the “as like or better” restoration of their properties.

During much of 2008 the Sunshine Coast Daily recorded the plight of these homeowners, questioned the contractors and received re assurances that work left undone would be rectified.

Responses to our questions were given in emails entitled “Holding Statement” which I can only assume to mean “hold them at bay” because the promises and denials contained within were for whatever reason rarely fulfilled or at complete odds with the complaining homeowners’ experience.

The case of Glasshouse resident Rodger Shepherd is instructive and mirrors the experience of many others.

Mr Shepherd was told work on his property would take three days when it was entered by contractors for the first time during the first half of 2008.

By late August he had had enough, angry that a 12 metre long, four metres high, five metre wide pile of dirt had killed plans to celebrate his 65th birthday in his backyard.

“They’ve walked all over us,” Mr Shepherd said. “It’s just all bull from the spin doctors. The government just does what it likes.”

LinkWater promised to fix the mess and did remove the dirt within a week. However it is now January 2009 and work on the pipeline through Mr Shepherd’s property is still incomplete, he remains angry at the intrusion on his life by contractors who come and go as they please and fearful of the fate that awaits those further up the path of a pipeline whose relevance to the water security of south east Queenslanders is increasingly doubtful.

Many residents have also expressed grave concerns to this newspaper about the standard and compatibility of revegetation work carried out by the pipeline company.

The Southern Regional Water Pipeline Alliance (SRWPA) in its most recent response to resident complaints addressed the concerns of residents who have witnessed the destruction of their natural environment and that around them by saying that it “has appropriate measures in place to safeguard the environment along the entire length of the Northern Pipeline Interconnector (NPI) – Stage 1”.

Again that is a firm assurance that is at odds with the experience witnessed by residents that have talked to this newspaper.

Given the incapacity of the Queensland government to provide direct and timely answers to the simplest of questions and its use of private companies to do the work, we may never know just how much this pipeline will cost.

Certainly the anecdotal evidence that is piling up suggests large sections of the pipe have had to be dug up and re laid for a variety of reasons ranging from poor compression of the trench base to incompatible collar ties.

Any cost over runs not borne by the contractors will become a cost that will need to be recovered via the unit price for water delivered to our taps.