Margie Maccoll
The Lake Macdonald dam wall project is expected to bring 5-6 years of traffic disruption and significant haulage truck movements but is necessary for the water security of the Noosa community, a Noosa Council meeting heard this week.
The ball starts rolling on the Seqwater project in Noosa Council this week with an internal meeting on Thursday and external meeting with stakeholders next Tuesday, following on from an announcement last month by Water Minister Glenn Butcher that the failure risk to the dam had been updated and work would begin mid-year.
“This is a state government-funded project, all engagement and communication with the community will be led through them,“ Council officers told Monday’s Services and Organisation committee meeting.
Council’s involvement lies with monitoring traffic, damage to the roads and road maintenance resulting from the project, officers said.
Officers explained the dam project would involve reducing the water level to 40 per cent, building a temporary or cofferdam wall, which is a dam wall in front of the existing wall, then removing the existing wall, constructing a new permanent wall and removing the cofferdam wall.
“It’s a large and segmented project that will involve a lot of work and lot of disruption to the community,“ officers said.
Early discussions indicated Seqwater would direct heavy construction vehicles along Lake Macdonald Drive and Elm Street as well as Sivyers Road and Gumboil Road but the use of other access streets would be explored, including the possibility to upgrade and use Kennedy’s Road which would provide a direct link to the dam site, officers said.
“There will still be some people upset. It’s not a simple solution. We have to look at pros and cons,“ the meeting heard.
When asked by Mayor Clare Stewart about community consultation on the project to date, officers said the first engagement began in 2013 in the form of letterbox drops.
Letterbox drops including recent ones to about 1000 residents in the dam vicinity, had been the sole form of community engagement to date, with face to face meetings scheduled in February and March, the dates listed on letterbox notices and on the Seqwater website.
When asked by Cr Amelia Lorentson about the amenity and economic impact to residents, officers replied that in retaining a 40 per cent water level the visual aspect of the dam would be well-maintained, being about a metre lower than during recent dry conditions, and the Noosa Botanic Gardens would be able to remain open during the construction period.
Officers said they anticipated impact to local flora and fauna and as part of the project fish would be relocated by expert fish biologists to Cooloolabin Dam.
Council CEO Larry Sengstock reinforced the message that the dam construction was a State project.
“Our job is to manage traffic plans and influence or support the community as best we can in terms of disruption,“ he said.
“This is for the security of water, the dam wall is under duress and we have to make sure it happens.“
Seqwater have established a dedicated project webpage at seqwater.com.au/project/lake-macdonald-dam- improvement-project, as well as email and phone contact for the project. Interested community members can also sign up to a project newsletter from this webpage.
Council also plan to create a dedicated Lake Macdonald Dam Improvement Project webpage referring visitors to the Seqwater webpage to ensure the community can easily access project information and assist in clarity of jurisdiction, as well as outline a clear process for representations and submissions.
