{"id":284023,"date":"2020-11-09T21:45:21","date_gmt":"2020-11-09T11:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=284023"},"modified":"2020-11-12T15:46:38","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T05:46:38","slug":"council-sues-over-water-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/11\/09\/council-sues-over-water-plant\/","title":{"rendered":"Council Sues Over Water Plant"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FLASHBACK: Aquatec Maxcon and South Burnett Regional Council representatives inspect the Gordonbrook Water Treatment plant at its official opening in 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

November 9, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

South Burnett Regional Council has launched a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the company which built the Gordonbrook Water Treatment Plant.<\/p>\n

The claim, against Ipswich-based company\u00a0Aquatec Maxcon, was lodged in the Brisbane Supreme Court on October 21.<\/p>\n

McCullough Robertson Lawyers are representing the SBRC in the action.<\/p>\n

Aquatec Maxcon has not yet filed a defence to the claim and no date has been set for an initial hearing.<\/p>\n

The statement of claim alleges the Gordonbrook plant needs millions of dollars in rectification works to fix multiple issues, including alleged corrosion and failing water pumps.<\/p>\n

The $9.68 million plant – which supplies water to Kingaroy – was officially opened by then-South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell in October 2016.<\/p>\n

Aquatec Maxcon\u2019s quote to build the plant was $7.5 million plus GST (ie. $8.25 million) and the balance of costs came from roadworks at the site, and design services provided by Hunter H2O.<\/p>\n

The SBRC spent $5 million of its own funds – set aside for the purpose – while the State Government contributed $680,000 through a grant.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The remaining $4 million was borrowed by Council from the Queensland Treasury.<\/p>\n

The aim of the new plant was to treat water for Kingaroy into the distant future.<\/p>\n

The plant was designed to cope with a doubling of the town’s population.<\/p>\n

The project won the Innovation category at the 2016 Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia, Queensland (IPWEAQ) Excellence Awards.<\/p>\n

It was also a finalist at the same awards in the Water and Wastewater projects under $10 million category.<\/p>\n

Aquatec Maxcon also built Kingaroy’s $25 million Wastewater Treatment Plant which began operation in 2016.<\/p>\n

This project received an Excellence Award for projects over $10 million at the 2016 IPWEAQ awards.<\/p>\n

South Burnett Mayor Brett Otto told southburnett.com.au<\/strong>\u00a0on Monday he could not comment on the lawsuit as the matter was before the courts.<\/p>\n

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