Toowoomba council key meetings, moment, decisions for July revealed
After a massive set of committee, ordinary and special meetings in July, here are 14 decisions and moments that you need to know about:
Toowoomba
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The Toowoomba Regional Council endured a busy two weeks’ worth of meetings, covering a huge amount of issues that residents might have missed.
Here’s what we learned:
1. New subdivision approved despite opposition
A new rural-residential subdivision just outside Toowoomba has been narrowly approved following a contentious vote of council this week, despite some opposition from neighbours.
Developer Edward Hodge has been approved for a new 46-lot housing estate based on a 16-hectare parcel off Gowrie-Tilgonda Road in Gowrie Junction.
Councillors voted 8-3 at Wednesday’s special meeting in favour of the proposal, which would create lots ranging from 2500 sqm to 6500 sqm across two stages.
For the full story, click here:
2. Changes to small town’s waste facility
The council has narrowly approved expanded opening hours for the Millmerran waste facility as a trial, following its decision to scrap the small town’s skip bin stations.
Councillor Trevor Manteufel’s motion passed 6-5 at last Tuesday’s ordinary meeting to extend the tier three facility’s operations to 36 hours per week from August until early next year, at an extra cost of $30,000.
It comes just a month after the council voted to decommission the six bin stations across the district, saving the council about $125,000 a year.
Mr Manteufel also proposed opening an expressions of interest period for residents affected by the closure of the stations to see if they would be open to receiving a kerbside bin collection.
The offer was conditional on residents being happy to accept the $327 annual charge and that 51 per cent of residents accepted the new service.
The motion prompted fierce debate among councillors, with councillor Carol Taylor calling it an issue of fairness.
“We’re trying to be equitable and operate under a waste strategy — where’s Clifton sit in this, and the other areas?” she said.
“While I understand the concerns and anxieties of people who’ve lost these bins, I have to say other areas in our region had skip bins, (and) these were removed when the waste facility strategy was adopted, except (for) Millmerran.
“Why should the rest of the region, or the Millmerran community for that matter, fund extra hours for the Millmerran waste facility to allow those who pay nothing to access the facility for no cost when other areas with a higher population don’t have the same hours?
“This is just a bridge too far and it’s going to cost other rate payers at a time when council is asking much more of them than we have before.”
Mr Manteufel reminded his colleagues the extended hours were a trial, and that “the option is there for them to use it”.
Councillors Carol and Melissa Taylor, Bill Cahill, Gary Gardner and James O’Shea voted against it.
3. Costs of councillor’s OIA investigation revealed
Nearly $40,000 in ratepayer funds were spent on seeking legal advice and investigating conduct complaints against councillor Gary Gardner to Queensland’s local government watchdog, which led to no fines and no public apologies required.
In an end to a nine-month saga Mr Gardner described as a “political distraction”, the Toowoomba council revealed the true cost of the lengthy matter over footpath closures during Tuesday’s ordinary meeting last week.
After being given the question on notice by Mr Gardner the week prior, corporate services general manager Ann-Marie Johnston told councillors $12,000 had been spent by the TRC looking into the complaints, after the Office of the Independent Assessor (OIA) sent them back to the council.
Click here for the full story.
4. Major water investments in pipeline
The council will need to spend an extra $9m on key infrastructure to services its southern towns with bulk water after the Toowoomba to Warwick (T2W) pipeline is built.
The councillors endorsed the new Southern Towns Water Supply study at last Tuesday’s ordinary meeting, which explored the range of new investments required to meet the new water connections in the towns of Cambooya, Greenmount, Nobby and Clifton.
The new infrastructure will complement the construction of both the pipeline and the upcoming Greenmount water treatment plant (WTP), which will be operational by 2027.
These include a new water tower at Nobby, a booster pump station and water mains upgrade at Clifton, and new reservoirs at Greenmount and Cambooya.
5. New supermarket takes next step after council decision
A top developer has been approved for changes to the master plan of his new commercial precinct in a growing Toowoomba suburb that will make way for a new Woolworths supermarket in the coming years.
Gold Coast’s Dean Gallagher of DGI Group was given the green light at a special meeting of Toowoomba Regional Council on Wednesday to amend his approved Glenvale Town Centre on Hursley Rd, which is slated to take over the site of the old Newtown rugby league grounds.
The most significant of the changes was increasing the maximum floor area of the supermarket portion of the master plan from 1500sq m to 4000sq m, which would allow for a new full-line supermarket to be approved down the track.
Click here for the full story.
6. How council achieved $4m surplus for 2024-25
The Toowoomba council has revealed it finished the 2024-25 financial year with a $4m surplus, largely driven by timing changes to federal grant funding.
Corporate services general manager Ann-Marie Johnston said the prepayment of $2.8m in financial assistance (FA) grants before June 30 improved the final figure.
The result is a better situation for the council than six months ago, when it was staring down the barrel of a $14m deficit.
Mayor Geoff McDonald remarked it was a good result after “a particularly tough year”.
Other elements behind the surplus was an increase in interest received, an extra $1.8m in fees and charges, and a reduction in both labour costs and operating expenditure.
7. Calls for planning scheme fast-track after $8.8m delays
Maverick Toowoomba councillor Gary Gardner has slammed delays to the council’s most important planning document, after the true almost $9 million cost of the project was revealed.
The noted developer and prominent businessman’s motion at last Tuesday’s ordinary meeting, which was unanimously endorsed, called for the council to prioritise the delivery of the new regional planning scheme that has been in the works for up to a decade.
The massive document governs how a council manages the short and long-term growth of cities and towns by providing a guide to developers on what are acceptable developments in certain areas.
Click here for the full story.
8. Huge local spend result for council revealed
Nearly $200m in council funding was spent on local businesses, vendors and suppliers during the past financial year, in a result hailed by one councillor as “tremendous”.
The council revealed a 57 per cent local spend result for 2024-25, worth $194m in total.
While this was below the TRC’s target of 60 per cent, it was far higher than 30 per cent goal the Queensland government sets for councils across the state.
Councillor Tim McMahon congratulated the council’s corporate services team for the result.
“They’re tremendous numbers of local spend, and I want to also take a moment to congratulate you and your team on those (results),” he said.
“TRC made a strategic decision some years ago to give stronger weighting to local suppliers in our procurement policy and that has paid significant dividends for local businesses.”
9. Council joins push for bridge upgrade
A Toowoomba councillor has urged the state government to upgrade a dangerous single-lane bridge on the New England Highway at Cooyar, revealing he was nearly involved in a crash at the site earlier this year.
Trevor Manteufel’s motion for council to write to transport minister Brent Mickelberg over the bridge was endorsed at last Tuesday’s meeting.
It mounts further pressure on the Crisafulli government to fund upgrades to the section of the highway, which sees 6000 vehicle movements per day and has been the site of 17 crashes since 2001 that injured more than 20 people.
For the full story, click here.
10. First week complete for new CEO
New council chief executive Sal Petroccitto has finally joined the organisation, sitting in on his first ordinary meeting on July 15.
Mr Petroccitto, who grew up in Stanthorpe, most recently headed the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator for more than a decade until late last year.
The government stalwart was welcomed by mayor Geoff McDonald, who said the new CEO would play a “pivotal role in the future of our council and our community”.
For the full story on Mr Petrocccitto’s appointment back in May, click here.
11. Councillors share mixed feelings on new Carnival event
Carnival of Flowers organisers say the new Lawn Party event has garnered significant interest and ticket sales are “progressing smoothly” despite some community pushback on the $350 price tag.
Ahead of 76th Carnival of Flowers the multi-week event has undergone a major overhaul with organisers scrapping the popular Food and Wine Festival and replacing it with FEASTival.
They also announced the brand new Lawn Party, a $350 a ticket event which will be held on the Godsall St oval and capped at 750 guests.
Councillors also weighed in and said the Food and Wine revamp and new events would allow different demographics to be catered for.
For the full story, click here.
12. ‘Neck deep into this’: New timeline for Cressbrook project revealed
Delays in the design process are behind a $9.7m underspend on the Cressbrook Dam safety upgrade project, which is now expected to be completed in 2026.
Just $25m of the $35m allocated for the massive upgrade was spent in the 2024-25 financial year, a variance of 28 per cent.
Water and waste general manager Jaek Passier said the council had been approved by the state government for certain activities, but was still working through information requests from the Department of Primary Industries in relation to a Waterway Barrier Works application.
Cressbrook’s capacity has finally dropped below 100 per cent, but is still well above the 70 per cent level needed to start construction.
The water and waste department’s project dashboard now has the project at 17.9 per cent complete and a total spend as of June at $47m, with its timeline expecting work to start in late 2025.
The total project cost is currently estimated at $266m.
In a separate motion, the council also voted to write to local government and water minister Ann Leahy, seeking clarification on the “potential penalties or consequences that may be imposed on our community” should the council be unable to meet its obligations.
The motion by Trevor Manteufel prompted strong comments from councillor Tim McMahon, who said the TRC should “burn the boats”.
“I believe when you’re commandeering to a far off land, you burn the boats,” he said.
“We’re not here to go back, we’re not here to look for penalties — we are neck deep into this.
“We have a motion that we move forward and we have significant council funds already invested and I’m not interested in looking at penalties for noncompliance.”
The motion passed 8-3, with Mr McMahon, Bill Cahill and Carol Taylor voting against it.
13. Draft parking strategy slammed
Toowoomba residents have slammed proposed changes to carparking in the city’s CBD in the council’s new draft strategy, with some describing it as “price-gouging”.
The new plan, which closed to feedback from the public last week, features new zones and a raft of potential changes, including a rollout of monitoring technology to track occupancy levels and compliance.
The loss of the “first 30 minutes free” for CBD spaces and the introduction of “demand-based pricing”, where prices go up and down based on the number of parks available, were particularly controversial.
For the full story, click here.
14. ‘Chook in with the foxes’: Gardner’s push around fleet reforms passes
Councillor Gary Gardner has succeeded in securing the first steps of reform around the council’s management of its fleet and logistics operations, following a marathon debate.
The councillors voted at Tuesday’s ordinary meeting to ask new chief executive Sal Petroccitto to “assess and prioritise the review and plan going forward for fleet and logistics”, including exploring the option of transitioning it from infrastructure to corporate services.
The final outcome, which passed 9-2, was very different from the original motion put by Mr Gardner, which asked for a three-month transition of fleet and logistics to become its own entity under corporate services.
The noted developer and outspoken councillor said the change would reduce costs, improve accountability, streamline operations and help fast-track delayed reforms.
“It’s like having the chooks in with the foxes,” he said, referring to fleet’s current position.
But this was met with opposition from colleague Bill Cahill, who said it was a big ask of Mr Petroccitto given he was “less than 25 hours” into the role at the time of the meeting.
Mr Cahill and Carol Taylor were the only dissidents on the motion.
A report will be presented to the council in December, with interim reporting starting in September.
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