Groundhog Day
While going through some paperwork on Emu Swamp Dam I came across an old letter to the editor in 2016 written by the late Rob Simcocks. As well as remembering Rob and his advocacy for Stanthorpe’s urban water security, I thought I would reprint his letter here in full to show you just how little has changed since 2016 …
Last week’s articles about Emu Swamp Dam in the Warwick Daily News (25/10/16), and in the Stanthorpe Border Post (27/10/16) were nothing more than a puffed up story about, well, not a lot. Yes, the State government is providing bridging finance for the pre-announced federal $3.9 million for more studies. And, yes, Mayor Dobie said, “It would not drive down costs for ratepayers” and “I don’t believe the construction of a dam will mitigate water fees”. Another way to say this is, “your rates will go up”. That news took less than a paragraph, but the problem is the spin in these stories has left people feeling the dam is on track to proceed. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Councillor Pennisi enjoys cosying up with federal politicians for a photo shoot, and he states, “There is no reverse gear for me with Emu Swamp Dam” (BP 14/04/2015). The problem here is, in a confidential part of last month’s Council meeting, Council adopted the Stanthorpe Regional Water Security Assessment from the State Government’s Department of Energy and Water Supply (DEWS). Councillor Pennisi was the only Councillor opposed to the adoption (SDRC Meeting Minutes 28 September 2016). The assessment, still confidential until DEWS releases it to the public, is looking at the best options, financially and practically, in securing Stanthorpe’s urban-only water supply, and is not taking into account irrigator water.
Why would Cr Pennisi not want to support the best options for Stanthorpe ratepayers? It seems that he is in this project to support a small select group of wealthy farmers at the expense of everyone else. At the August 2015 Council meeting, Councillor Pennisi was forced to step down from the Stanthorpe Community Reference Panel (an irrigator-only group) over a perceived conflict of interest. I’m beginning to wonder if he should have stepped down from Council instead and stayed chairing the irrigator group.
Council will need to make some big decisions soon and a lot will be revealed when the DEWS assessment comes out. Meantime, if Cr Pennisi is listening to the facts and is truly passionate about our community, he is well advised to find his reverse gear.
Rob Simcocks
The Stanthorpe Regional Water Security Assessment was later made available on the SDRC website and on the Department’s website. It says very little, and for the life of me I can’t see why anyone would oppose it, but then there’s a lot of things that Mayor Pennisi does that I don’t understand.
In realising we are still in exactly the same position as in 2016, it is abundantly clear that the vested interests of some of our elected representatives have prevented any real action on improving Stanthorpe’s urban water security.
Spare a thought too for those landowners in the dam footprint who don’t want to lose their homes, farms or land to this project. The rest of us can roll our eyes at the broken record that is our Mayor, but they are stuck in limbo until a decision is made on this project. A limbo that some have been in since 2006 when SDRC notified them by letter of the proposed project.