Gross misuse

I SUGGEST all Toowoomba Regional Councillors hop into their rate payer funded cars and drive to Drayton and visit the corner of Cambooya/Colvin Sts and Cambooya/Parker Sts.

The latter will give you a prime example of a detention basin landscaped with shrubs, native grasses and sedges that you propose for Ballin Drive park.

Then travel Spencer/Alderley St corner, Water/South St corner, Spring/Ramsey St corner and Ethan St. These are all detention basins built by Council and are nothing but dirty brown dust bowls with weeds and an occasional spindly tree trying to survive.

In reality this is what Ballin Drive park will resemble but on a much, much larger scale.

This will not be a great image for the Garden City. Currently this is a unique park with a natural pristine creek running through.

This park will not look anything like the glossy images that Council is proposing.

While we all support flood mitigation, even Council agrees detention basins would be of little use in the possibility of another major flood event.

If Council persists with these basins, I believe this will be a gross misuse of public money which could be used in more constructive areas of flood mitigation on East Creek, including culvert upgrades deepening and cleaning the creek.

JIM POTERI, Toowoomba