Water restrictions proof of failure

Summer is here and water restrictions are in force for some of us.

Something is obviously wrong, either council staff have not looked out the window to see all the rain we have had or they forgot to leave the plug in the reservoir.

In short there should be no water restrictions since council have installed water meters and introduced a ‘user pays system’.

If water restrictions are enforced it is due to council’s failure.

Yet council will threaten those who are willing to pay for the extra water use, instead it should be council who are held accountable for failure to do the following;

To ensure that there is sufficient consented water supply to cope for demand;

Future proofed water supply infrastructure;

Competent leadership to have foreseen and remedied these issues;

To tell the ratepayers the truth.

If water restrictions come into play it is council water staff and the CEO who should be held accountable for a debacle they themselves have created.

A debacle that in 2013 was going to cost ratepayers $100 million to fix and has now spiralled out of control, excluding the rate take over the 20 year period that staff have known about this issue with very little to show for it.

Ratepayers are entitled to use as much water as they like since they are now paying for it and should not be penalised by council’s lack of expertise and leadership.