Sewage certainty key to Port Hinchinbrook revival

COUNCIL ownership of Port Hinchinbrook’s Sewage Treatment Plant is needed as a vital step toward “unleashing Cardwell’s economic potential”.

Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto said residents had put up with a “sh--ty situation” for several years, unsure of who would own and manage the plant and who would have the ability to charge and rate them for the service they provided.

“Residents have been living in limbo waiting for a solution to this ongoing issue which has been a major stumbling block towards seeing Port Hinchinbrook being returned to its former glory,” Mr Dametto said.

“Normalisation of essential services at Port Hinchinbrook would see the development treated like any other suburb of the Cassowary Coast.”

He said he believed the Cassowary Coast Regional Council was best placed to own, run and maintain the treatment plant. “For the past six months, I have been in negotiations with the State Government to extract funding so the economic burden does not fall solely on Cassowary Coast ratepayers, and that services can be delivered at a reasonable price for current and future Port Hinchinbrook residents.”

Mr Dametto said creating certainty around ownership of basic utilities would give potential investors an incentive to invest and redevelop properties like Port Hinchinbrook’s marina basin, restaurant and shopping precinct.

“In 2018, I was successful in lobbying the state for $200,000 in funding for Cassowary Coast Regional Council to conduct emergency repairs and running costs for the STP, with a further $100,000 delivered in the following year … yet the issue of its ongoing ownership remains unresolved.”

He said the council had paid for a state-commissioned report on the treatment plant that was recently adopted.

“This document outlines the cost of bringing the current STP up to modern environmental standards and outlines future running costs,” Mr Dametto said. “It’s important to get this right for the longterm future of Port Hinchinbrook and Cardwell.”

Mr Dametto said once the issue of the STP was resolved, “it paved the way” for tackling other issues within Port Hinchinbrook such as road maintenance and all-tidal access to One Mile Creek.

“Collectively solving each of these projects plays an important role in the economic revival of Cardwell,” Mr Dametto said.

“Ownership of the Port Hinchinbrook STP has been a fundamental issue for many years that no previous state representative has been willing to solve.

“I truly believe if we don’t fix this problem now, it may never happen.”