Toowoomba council asks for details on Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s announcement of water pipeline to Warwick

Mayor Paul Antonio said the premier’s announcement of work starting on a pipeline from Toowoomba to Warwick blindsided him – and he has concerns about the details.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Toowoomba Regional Council Mayor Paul Antonio.

Work on the controversial $300m water pipeline from Toowoomba to Warwick will start in the coming months, following an announcement from the Premier that blindsided Mayor Paul Antonio.

Annastacia Palaszczuk revealed on Tuesday pre-construction would start on the major infrastructure project in the coming months.

The pipeline, which will support 420 jobs in construction, will supposedly connect drought-affected communities near Toowoomba like Nobby, Clifton, Greenmount and Cambooya.

Mr Antonio said he’d received no word an announcement was coming and was still unsure of the fine details.

“While we’ve been given updates on the project over the past year or so, we weren’t aware there would be an announcement yesterday until I received a call in the morning from the Water Minister Glenn Butcher,” he said.

“In all discussions to date, we’ve made it clear that we’re not only concerned about our water security now, but our future water security and the impact this will have on our water infrastructure.

“We need to protect our water future and to make sure this pipeline won’t come at the cost of our ratepayers.”

Water and waste chair Councillor Rebecca Vonhoff said the State Government had not outlined how raw water would get treated for communities in the Toowoomba region.

“We might need treatment plants (in those towns), so how much are those going to cost to run?” she said.

“That’s not even the capital costs, and who is doing that work?

“If it’s expected to be us, we need to look at the whole-of-life costs.”

Ms Vonhoff said the nature of the announcement felt similar to the lack of consultation around the Wellcamp quarantine facility.