H2Off
Lockyer Valley Mayor Tanya Milligan has sent a very clear message to the State Government - Lockyer Valley Regional Council won't sit idly back and allow the life blood of the region to be wasted on road works.
The claim comes after it was revealed the Palaszczuk Government approved Nexus Infrastructure to drill six bores within the Lockyer Valley for use in the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing project, despite a moratorium banning the drilling of bores for local farmers.
Mayor Milligan said both Council and local farmers were angered, and rightly so, by the Government's narrow-minded decision.
What a slap in the face this is for the region. On one hand we have the State Government professing to care about agriculture and on the other they are handing over the use of nearly 300 Olympic size pools of water within one of Australia's most fertile agricultural regions.
To put this into perspective, that's enough water to supply an average sized broccoli farm for approximately three years, in which time it could yield some $11 million.
It's no secret the Lockyer Valley has some of the most fertile soil on earth and for the State to forbid our farmers from drilling more bores to access water for the production of food, but allow it to be drilled for road construction makes absolutely no sense.
Let's not forget, the water Nexus has been allowed to access isn't a finite resource. There is only so much of it available so wouldn't it be better utilised for the production of high quality agricultural production rather than hosing down dirt on a construction site.
Don't get me wrong, the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing is a vital piece of infrastructure that will have a number of benefits for the region, but surely other water sources, including reclaimed water, should have been utilised throughout the project instead, she said.
Mayor Milligan said the Palaszczuk Government was yet to respond to any of Council's correspondence on the issue.
Obviously the claims by this Government that it understands the importance of top quality agricultural areas, such as the Lockyer Valley, are nothing more than lip service.
Let me make this final point, without access to water, farmers aren't able to produce high volumes of product and that translates into higher price at the checkout for everyone, Mayor Milligan said.