July 15, 2020
Councillor Kathy Duff has called for a review of standpipe water prices after the South Burnett Regional Council recently increased charges by almost 150 per cent.
The decision to raise prices from $4.10 to $10 per kilolitre was taken at the June meeting.
Cr Duff said at the time she thought it was inappropriate to increase standpipe prices during a drought, but lost the vote 6-1.
At Wednesday’s Council meeting, Cr Duff said she was aware petitions calling on the Council to review its standpipe decision were circulating in the community but had yet to be presented to Council.
She asked CEO Mark Pitt if he could clarify what Council’s position would be when those petitions were tendered.
“How do ratepayers get something back on the agenda?” Cr Duff asked.
“What’s the process?”
Mr Pitt agreed Council had yet to receive any petitions on the standpipe issue but expected they would arrive in due course.
He said the standard procedure when Council received a petition was to resolve that it be received and then refer it to Council officers for consideration and action if required.
However, if Councillors wanted to vary this process and put a matter back on the table for discussion, this would require a new resolution.
Cr Duff thanked Mr Pitt for clarifying the procedure.
Later in the same meeting, Councillors voted unanimously to accept a petition calling for Murgon’s Target Country to be converted to a Kmart Hub Store.
The petition was referred to Mr Pitt for consideration and relevant action.
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