Dear Residents,
There has been a lot of discussion recently regarding the water supply at the Riemore Estate at Tamborine, we the directors of the Riemore Development would like to take this opportunity to explain the situation from our side.
Some 25 odd years ago, when Nev Volker and Ian Martin first approached the then, Beaudesert Shire Council (BSC) and proposed the idea of a rural residential estate at Riemore, one of the things they were told was that they would have to provide restricted flow reticulated water. This later became a “council condition” in relation to the development.
Believe us, if we could have done this development without having to supply water, we would have done so.
The original idea was that once constructed and having come off the “maintenance period”, the water treatment plant and associated infrastructure, would be handed over to BSC and they would run the water reticulation system, charging residents via their rates.
During this period, the State Government introduced the Queensland Urban Utilities (QUU), who effectively took over the supply and delivery of water from local councils. The QUU was not interested in taking over the supply of water at Riemore.
This left the directors of Riemore no alternative but to run the system themselves. Nev Volker undertook studies and became qualified as an “accredited service provider”, the necessary requirement to run and operate a water treatment system. The company Riemore Water 1 was set up to administer this process.
Part of running the water treatment plant is to have the water quality regularly tested. This has been done and records kept.
The system has been operational for a number of years and to date the costs of operating and maintaining the system has been borne by Riemore Water 1. Riemore Water 1 can no longer cover the costs of operating the system, without receiving a fee for service, hence the need to formalise the process of invoicing residents in the estate. The charges for provision of reticulated water are in accordance with the “Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008”. Regardless of whether it was Scenic Rim Regional Council, QUU, or a private provider supplying water, charges would still apply, as it does in any other jurisdiction.
For the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008 please click the below link
https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/pdf/2017-07-03/act-2008-034
When you purchased property at Riemore, be it vacant land or an established property, you should have been made aware that a reticulated water supply system was in place. Regardless of whether properties are connected to the system or not, the “access fee” is still payable, in accordance with the above mentioned act. Another advantage of having water on the estate is that fire stand pipe access points have been provided at various locations throughout the estate, most recently being utilised during the extinguishing of a car fire at the intersection of Old Coach Road and Bullock Team Way.
The original invoice sent out in late 2018, was the access fee for a 12 month period. Riemore Water 1 is going to reissue a tax invoice, complete with the company ABN.
We, the directors of Riemore Water 1 look forward to working with residents of Riemore to provide a suitable outcome for both parties.
Thank you for your time.