The echo Chamber
Just last month we mentioned that the Stanthorpe & Granite Belt Chamber of Commerce had put in a formal submission arguing against the Toowoomba pipeline. The apparent basis for this opposition was that the pipeline had no benefit for Granite Belt horticultural businesses.
A more balanced approach could have been for the Chamber to support both the pipeline and Emu Swamp Dam. But stuck in the Emu Swamp Dam echo chamber, it instead said that a pipeline would bring “no additional economic benefit to the region” because it doesn’t provide water for irrigators. This ignores the local hotels, tourist accommodation, cafes, restaurants and shops that depend on town water and who surely make up a good proportion of the Chamber’s members.
The Chamber’s failure to focus on Stanthorpe’s future growth is not new. In 2018, according to GBIP's business case, the Chamber in its submission on the new Border Rivers & Moonie Water Plan stated that it didn't think Stanthorpe would experience significant growth. The Chamber then asked for 1,350 ML of the town's 1,500 ML future water reserve to be moved to the Emu Swamp Dam project. And not for the town mind you: in 2018 the dam was an irrigation-only dam.
We now know that the Chamber’s view of future growth wasn’t just pessimistic, it was completely wrong! In June 2021, less than 3 years after the submission, a media release from the Chamber said:
the region had experienced an increase of 44 percent in the in-flow of new residents from interstate and metropolitan areas, the second-largest growth of inland migration of any local government authority.
Luckily there were some rational heads at the Department of Water. Having more faith in the future of Stanthorpe than our own Chamber, the 2019 water plan kept the future town water reserve where it belonged – for Stanthorpe’s future growth.
If the Chamber’s submission had been implemented then Emu Swamp Dam would have sucked dry Stanthorpe’s remaining future water reserve. The Chamber of Commerce would effectively have left Stanthorpe with no opportunities for growth, new business or the diversification of our economy.
Urban businesses and the tourism industry rely on a secure urban water supply. While Emu Swamp Dam may benefit local horticultural businesses, State Government modelling is crystal clear that it does not drought-proof Stanthorpe. Local businesses which are dependent on the town water supply need the Chamber to advocate on behalf of all local businesses, not just horticulture, to ensure their future growth.