The peak body for Queensland councils has welcomed this week’s announcement of the latest round of State Government funding for 99 critical water and sewerage infrastructure projects.
Queensland’s Water Minister Glenn Butcher has announced 50 councils had received $69 million for almost 100 regional water and sewerage infrastructure projects under what is the sixth round of the Building our Regions funding program.
Local Government Association of Queensland chief executive officer Alison Smith said the results show how important it is for this work to continue statewide.
"Access to safe and reliable drinking water is critical to enhancing the liveability of rural and remote communities,” Ms Smith said.
“These results from the sixth round of Building our Regions show how important, and successful, the program is.
“It is providing continued capital investment in water and sewerage infrastructure to meet a backlog of renewal, upgrade and replacement of water and sewerage assets, and is helping develop a pipeline of projects that support and diversify regional local economies.
“It is also attracting additional investment from councils and other organisations.
“This is why Queensland councils are asking that the program is continued beyond its current funding allocation, and continues the focus on securing the water infrastructure funding councils and communities need over the next 10 years.”
Burdekin Shire Mayor Lyn McLaughlin welcomed funding towards the RegenAqua macro-algal facility that will use native green algae to treat wastewater.
“This project is the first of its kind and will revolutionise the treatment of wastewater for all smaller coastal councils," Cr McLaughlin said.
"The facility is not only significantly cheaper to both construct and maintain than a tertiary wastewater treatment plant, but by removing potentially harmful nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen from wastewater, the facility will reduce human impact on the Great Barrier Reef and provide a scalable template which can be constructed in other local government areas not only in Queensland, but around the world.
“The Burdekin Shire is a hub of innovation, and we are incredibly proud to be home to the first full-scale RegenAqua facility in partnership with Pacific Bio and James Cook University.
“I want to sincerely thank the Queensland Government for recognising the significance of this project with earthworks funded through Round 6 of Building Our Regions.
“As a council with a small ratepayer base, initiatives of this magnitude would not be possible without either years of budgeting or support from private enterprise and other tiers of government.”
For more information, please contact:
Dan Knowles, Media Advisor
Phone: 0432 681 664
Local Government Association of Queensland