A survey sent out to Mount Isa businesses found most respondents believed they would see a hike in their water charges and expected more warning and transparency from the Mount Isa City Council.
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North West Chamber of Commerce president Travis Crowther said he was asked by concerned members, to investigate how other local business may be impacted by the new charging system.
“A survey was promptly sent out to members and shared on our Facebook page. The survey found that 100 per cent of business survey respondents had not been contacted by the Mount Isa City Council prior to the new system implementation,” Mr Crowther said.
About 25 businesses responded to the survey from real estate, car rental, aviation, electrical contractors and hospitality industries.
More than half said the new charging system would affect their business operations.
However council defended their scheme saying most businesses would be paying less each year.
“Obviously the people that got on to the survey and replied were actually the people whose water was going to be more expensive,” Cr Peta MacRae said.
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Mr Crowther said “a staggering 94 per cent” of local business want to hear more how the decision to change came about.
Council said they had not contacted businesses directly about new water rates.
“We never claimed that we had done prior consultation, what we did claim was that we used the feedback that we had over several years to support the changes,” a council spokesperson said.
Mount Isa Irish Club manager Bernard Gillic said the new system would have a “major impact” on their ability to sponsor community groups.
“The Irish Club has already endured water hikes totaling over 110 per cent over the past two years and the new charges appear designed to drain the life blood from our club and our community,” Mr Gillic responded to the survey.
“As a major user of water in the city we were not consulted in anyway by the council and we are unaware of anyone who was.”
Stay tuned to The North West Star to find out more about council’s reasoning behind changes to water rates.
