Supreme Court judge scathing of Toowoomba council

JUSTICE Martin criticised TRC for continuing with court proceedings against Hampton Irrigators when it "should have known that it had no chance of success".

Hampton Irrigators got their water supply back and were awarded court costs.

A QUEENSLAND Supreme Court judge has been scathing in his criticism of Toowoomba Regional Council which continued court proceedings against the Hampton Irrigators (HI) group "when it should have known that it had no chance of success".

The court proceedings stemmed from TRC turning off the water supply to Hampton farmers due to, as it saw it, the water from Kleinton Bore was contaminated with a high level of radionuclides.

This was disputed by HI which had a water supply agreement dating back 15 years with the then Crows Nest Council.

Justice Glen Martin noted the parties met in November last year to solve the problem and it had been agreed that "the science" would determined the outcome and expert Dr Ross Kleinschmidt was engaged to test the water.

He found that the water was "potable", that is, fit for human consumption.

"All of the above was known to TRC yet, until this matter came on for hearing, it refused to acknowledge any of these findings," Justice Martin said in his findings brought down on Wednesday.

"At the hearing of this matter, it (TRC) conceded that its purported termination of the water supply agreement was unlawful," he said.

The water supply was restored to HI last week.

However, in his judgment, Justice Martin found it was a case TRC was not likely to win.

"In this case, TRC has allowed these proceedings to continue when it should have known that it had no chance of success," he said.

"I order that the respondent (TRC) pay the applicant's (HI) costs on the indemnity basis."

HI was represented in the court by Toowoomba legal firm Creevey Russell Lawyers.

Originally published as Supreme Court judge scathing of Toowoomba council