Backing plan for a better Bowen

JUNE 28, 2018: A PLAN by Whitsunday Regional Council to upgrade sewage facilities to provide multiple benefits for industry and the environment has my backing.WRC’s Greening Growing Bowen Project was raised with relevant government ministers in Canberra recently when Mayor Andrew Willcox, CEO Barry Omundsen and CFO Paul Fendley travelled to the capital to promote the region and their plans for its future.Whitsunday Regional Council has looked outside the square when it came to finding a solution to some ageing infrastructure at the Bowen Sewage Treatment Plant.They have a plan to not only upgrade equipment but to supply highly treated effluent for reuse on parks and gardens and to potentially develop the industrial estate at Abbot Point.That industrial estate needs access to water, and this recycled option will provide that.The treated water will also keep parks and gardens green and growing which keeps the town looking good and conserves water.The reality is that the alternative to an upgraded facility able to provide treated recycled water is that the treated effluent will otherwise be discharged into the ocean.This is a far more productive and beneficial approach.I joined council leaders at meetings in Canberra with the Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, the Minister for the Environment Josh Frydenberg and Minister for Regional Development John McVeigh.