Minute With The Mayor - Mayor Ramon Jayo June 2nd

Last Saturday I was honoured to be invited to the Forrest Beach Surf Life Saving Annual Presentation Night and to witness a historical moment in the club’s history when Melissa Hall was awarded Life Membership of the club.  

‍

Melissa’s well-deserved recognition of exemplary service to the club was indeed a special moment in the club’s history, but what made it all so much more special for Melissa and the club was that Melissa is the third member of the one family to be awarded Life Membership, with her father, Lenny Chiesa (1986), and mum, Pam (1989), also life members. Congratulations Melissa, and congratulations also to all the Chiesa family who, on my observation on the night, still have three generations of family actively involved in surf lifesaving at Forrest Beach.

‍

Congratulations also to Helen Stanton, who was also recognised for a lifetime of service to the club and lifesaving by Life Membership, and congratulations to all club members and supporters on a massive year on the beach, winning through many events and carnivals. As a club, you do our community proud. With the net out of the water at the moment, we hope you all take the opportunity to have a well-earned break through the winter.

‍

Congratulations also to the Taylors Beach Progress Association on the running of another successful family fishing classic over the weekend. With a record-breaking 287 entrants and an ever-growing prize pool, the event is growing significantly in popularity and is well and truly entrenched as a major family event in our community annual calendar. Congratulations to Jim and the team—job well done. I am going to nominate next year and get amongst those magnificent prizes myself.

I receive many comments from the public about the perception that we are experiencing significant water line breakages of late. The fact is that we are, although I wouldn’t say the number is extraordinary or above what normally has occurred historically. Would you be surprised if I told you that in Queensland, a water main breaks every 73 minutes?

‍

There are many reasons why water lines break: movement in the ground, water hammer from unauthorised openings, pressure fluctuations due to lightning strikes on pump stations, as occurred in November/December last year, and of course the occasional deep ripping by monstrous tractors about the place, to name a few.

‍

A big issue is, of course, the age of the infrastructure, and this is not an issue facing us alone. The Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ)’s recently released report highlights the scale of the ageing infrastructure challenge facing Queensland councils and the communities they represent.

‘The Last Drop: Fixing Queensland’s Infrastructure Cliff’ report indicates that a $5 billion shortfall in funding for urgently needed water and wastewater renewals is needed to address the issue facing Queensland councils.

‍

It also presses home the need for a dedicated funding source for water and wastewater infrastructure projects in Queensland, it’s one of our key asks in the upcoming State Budget.

‍

‘The Last Drop’ lays bare the “perfect storm” facing water and wastewater services, with ageing assets causing a pipe to break every 73 minutes across the state, a worsening trend since 2018.

‍

The LGAQ has indicated that councils and ratepayers cannot shoulder this significant burden and financial risk alone, and that’s why LGAQ is continuing to call on the State Government to act now.

‍