Staggering amount of funds council could pay on court case

TOOWOOMBA Regional Council's court costs awarded against it by the Supreme Court this week could be as high as $100,000.

Toowoomba City Hall in Ruthven St. Picture: Bev Lacey

TOOWOOMBA ratepayers already reeling from residential rates and water bills during the COVID period of unemployment might look forward to another slug after Toowoomba Regional Council was hit by an order of the Supreme Court to pay legal costs which potentially could be more than $100,000.

An ongoing dispute about water supply between council and the Hampton Irrigators group came to a head in the Supreme Court in Brisbane last week.

TRC had claimed that water from the Kleinton Bore which was pumped into Cooby Dam and ultimately sourced by the Hampton farmers had been contaminated, meaning the farmers had not been able to pump from the bore since July last year.

The farmers had grown a bank of water but as of this week had about four months of water left.

One farmer told The Chronicle that farmers could not plan for future crops due the uncertainty of water supply.

The two parties had agreed on an expert examining the water from the bore and to let the science decide.

He he found that the water was "potable", in other words fit for human consumption.

The Hampton Irrigators took the TRC to the Supreme Court where the TRC conceded that its termination of the existing Water Supply Agreement "was unlawful".

Justice Glen Martin was scathing in his criticism of the TRC in having the matter end up in court saying this week "TRC has allowed these proceedings to continue when it should have known that it had no chance of success."

Justice Martin also ruled on a dispute over court costs.

"HI seeks its costs of this application on an indemnity basis," he said.

"The TRC accepts that it must pay the costs but says that they should be assessed on the standard basis."

In a judgment brought down on Wednesday, Justice Martin ordered "the respondent (TRC) pay the applicant's (Hampton Irrigators Pty Ltd) costs on the indemnity basis".

With the hiring of lawyers and barristers and general court costs, that figure could well be more than $100,000 which would ordinarily come out of the public purse - that is the ratepayers of the Toowoomba Regional Council region and not out of the pockets of the council employees concerned.

Originally published as Staggering amount of funds council could pay on court case