By Jeremy Sollars
A legal appeal by the owners of Cherrabah Resort east of Warwick over conditions set by the Southern Downs Regional Council on approval of a commercial water extraction operation has moved a step closer to finalisation following a committee vote of councillors this week.
But the vote – if endorsed at the August general meeting next week – could mean Cherrabah’s owners proceed with their water plan, with a majority of councillors this week voting to partially reduce a road upgrade condition.
In December 2019 a majority of councillors on the former Dobie administration voted to approve a controversial plan by Cherrabah owners Wenxing and Wenwei Ma to extract up to a million litres of underground water annually from Cherrabah for commercial plastic bottling on the Gold Coast.
The proposal drew heated opposition from neighbouring Elbow Valley property owners and many others in the community questioned the council’s approval last December given the extreme drought in the region.
Last year’s approval came with a condition that the Ma brothers upgrade a section of Keoghs Road at Elbow Valley to allow for increased truck movements the water operation would generate, specifically that sealing on Keoghs Road be widened to at least 5.5 metres along with stormwater drainage to O’Deas Road.
The Ma brothers appealed against the condition in January of this year – on the basis it was “overly onerous” – and were then given several extensions of time by council officers to back up their appeal with documentary evidence, which have included fresh traffic volume estimates by their consultants which they claim show water trucks would not significantly add to traffic on Keoghs Road.
Opponents of the Cherrabah water plan were hopeful that the cost of the full roadworks as originally required by the council would make the extraction operation financially unviable for the Ma brothers, given the overall plan was given council approval last December.
But the brothers have had at least a partial win following a meeting on Monday of this week of the council’s Sustainable Development, Corporate and Community Services Committee.
That committee – and the Infrastructure and Executive Committee – is made up of all the councillors and meets monthly ahead of general meetings to hold preliminary discussions on matters before councillors, with votes taken then ‘ratified’ or further debated at the general meeting.
This week a resolution to reduce the Keoghs Road upgrade from the full length of the road to O’Deas Road down instead to widening of four smaller sections – bends and crests on Keoghs Road – was carried six votes to three.
Voting in favour of reducing the road upgrade requirement were Mayor Vic Pennisi, Deputy Mayor Ross Bartley and Councillors Cameron Gow (who chairs the committee), Marco Gliori, Jo McNally and Sheryl Windle.
Voting against were Councillors Stephen Tancred, Andrew Gale and Cynthia McDonald.
Those in favour broadly agreed that the request by the Ma brothers was reasonable, with council officers stating during Monday’s committee meeting that if truck movements on Keoghs Road became excessive in the future the council could compel the Ma brothers to undertake the full road upgrade.
Those against partial relaxation of the road condition cited traffic safety as their primary concern, arguing that a full widening as originally required would be more likely to ensure safe separation and movement of vehicles passing each other on Keoghs Road.
The resolution will be back on the table at the August general meeting next Thursday 27 August. If passed by councillors in ‘full council’ the Ma brothers will then be given the opportunity either to accept the amended road condition or further challenge it through more negotiation.
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Last year’s vote…
Voting in favour of the Cherrabah water extraction plan in December 2019 were former mayor Tracy Dobie and then councillors Neil Meiklejohn, Rod Kelly, Sheryl Windle and former deputy mayor Jo McNally. Voting against were councillors Vic Pennisi, Yve Stocks and Cameron Gow. Former councillor Marika McNichol was absent from the vote due to a bushfire threatening her property at the time.
Ms Dobie said at the time the council was powerless to stop the movement and private sale of water and its transport out of the region and that the council only had the power to set conditions on ‘operational’ issues – such as truck movements, road upgrades and the placement of pumping infrastructure – and could not override privately-held water entitlements.
The Ma brothers had lodged an earlier application in December 2018 which they subsequently withdrew, but the council in late 2019 allowed the original 2018 application to be re-considered at the request of the Ma’s.
As a result neighbours were unable to lodge fresh objections, having previously submitted their formal opposition to the plan in 2018.
Those neighbours were unaware the Ma brothers had re-instigated the plan until informed by the Free Times that the matter was listed on the agenda of the December 2019 council meeting.
The primary concern of neighbours opposed to the Cherrabah plan was – and still is – the likely effect such a substantial water ‘take’ could have on their own bore supplies and the wider water table in the area.
Reports commissioned by the Ma brothers – and accepted by the council in 2019 – claimed the operation would have no significant impact on underground water on surrounding properties due to the geological characteristics of aquifers on Cherrabah.
Several neighbours have previously told the Free Times were it not for the drought they would potentially not have objected to the Cherrabah plan, although even in ‘good’ rainfall times they would still have wanted to examine the proposal in detail.
