Cairns water security cost blowout labelled “complete failure” as alternative solution proposed

Council candidates have slammed council’s water security cost blowout and called for alternative approaches to the proposal, which will cost the taxpayer almost half a billion dollars.

A mammoth cost blowout on Cairns’ proposed water security project has been branded a “complete failure” that represents significant risk to Cairns’ public by a senior figure in Cairns’ business community.

Stage 1 of the project – which, when completed, will augment Cairns’ water supply through a Mulgrave River intake – will require a second stage upgrade after ten to fifteen years, according to the council.

After the council meeting on December 21 it was revealed the winds of post-Covid inflation had sailed the total Stage 1 expense past $470m, almost a quarter of a billion dollars above the previous cost estimate, $248m.

Matthew Tickner, a Division 2 councillor candidate, has labelled the project’s cost blowout a “complete failure”. Picture: Supplied

Matthew Tickner, the vice president of Cairns Chamber’s management committee and a candidate for council’s Division 2, said the cost outcome demanded a review into how and when the council used consultants as previous advice delivered to council had contributed to the inaccurate original cost estimate.

“If an independent consultant is missing the mark on a $472m project by almost half, they need to be shown the door, not their next project,” Mr Tickner said.

“There’s a consistency emerging: when council are getting project advice from external consultants, the advice is wrong.”

Mr Tickner said water insecurity had been being driven, in part, by higher tier governments’ historical reluctance to fund water storage infrastructure projects in Cairns, such as the Nullinga Dam business case.

“The interim (Stage 1) solution only provides us another ten years of water security … (which) will now cost the taxpayer $47.2m each year over ten years, and this is just for the construction,” he said.

Cairns Regional Council has appointed Mica Martin as their new CEO. Picture: Brendan Radke

“We live in one of the wettest places in the world … governments haven’t invested in infrastructure to capture the enormous rainfall we receive each year.”

Council’s CEO Mica Martin said there had been a high level of engagement with stakeholders of the water security project, including landholders and the broader Cairns community.

“Council will draw water under entitlement conditions determined by the Queensland Government,” Ms Martin said.

“Council is operating in a socially conscious manner and will ensure flows are maintained in the Mulgrave River to protect the river system for the benefit of communities, animals and plants that rely on it.

“The $472m project has a lifespan of 50-plus years. However, based on current population projections we will need to implement Stage Two in ten to fifteen years.”

Denis Walls, a mayoral candidate, said alternatives to the water security project were still available, such as localised supply in rainwater tanks, infrastructure improvements to increase supply efficiency, increasing the capacity of the reservoir system and demand management tactics to reduce water waste.

Mayoral candidate Denis Walls has called fro the implementation of alternative solutions. Picture: Supplied

“A vote on the water security contract should not have happened prior to an election. The new council will inherit that … the project now costs nearly $500m which is money the council doesn’t have and now we’re going around cap in hand trying to get money from our bigger brothers at the state and federal governments,” Mr Walls said.

“The conversation that needs to be had is if this is the best solution in terms of longevity when there are alternatives available.”

Mr Walls said the revenue generated for councils by water consumption had been a past disincentive to implement demand management strategies.

“The revenue provided by users’ abuse of water is something local governments are addicted to,” he said.

Mayor Terry James said inflationary pressure had driven up the project cost since the original cost estimate.

“The previous cost estimate of $248m was based on the early design considerations and the economic situation when the preliminary business case was commissioned in 2021,” Mr James said.

“Everything is more expensive today than it was when the preliminary business case was conducted.

“The project is also a safeguard to our water treatment capability. Currently, about 80 per cent of our drinking water comes from Copperlode Dam. If the treatment plant associated with this water supply were to fail, we have no backup.”

Originally published as Cairns water security cost blowout labelled “complete failure” as alternative solution proposed