BLUEWATER Marina residents and berth owners are hellbent on pursuing Cairns Regional Council through the courts to stop a massive increase in dredging charges.
More than 70 people attended ‘a private information session’ at the council headquarters on Tuesday evening. The media were barred from attending. The meeting was not recorded nor any minutes taken. A resident was stopped from video-recording the proceedings.
At issue is the council receiving only one tender for the $12 million dredging contract with the cost of dredging forecast to rise 137 per cent between the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years.
Special charges to waterfront properties and marina berths have skyrocketed to $4489.24 this year and $6136.35 next year.
A spokesman for the residents, Derek Mahoney, said they were treated with disdain and council representatives, including chief executive officer Ken Gouldthorp and divisional councillor Rhonda Coghlan, were dismissive of their concerns.
“The session began in an orderly manner but became tense as attendees perceived questions were being deflected,” he said.
“The meeting concluded with audible discontent from some residents, who characterised the event as a display of heavy-handed council communication.
“CRC stated they had met all legal compliance requirements in applying the special charge.
“Approximately 10-13 per cent of dredging costs are contributed by CRC, with the remainder charged to the affected 240 properties.
“Residents asked questions about negotiating fees or reducing dredging costs, public benefit from dredging versus residents’ charges and alternative funding sources.
“Some attendees reported that difficult questions were dismissed, attributed to ‘legal privilege’ or ‘commercial confidence’ or met with ‘staff unaware’ responses.
“CRC stated dredging was carried out solely for the benefit of Bluewater residents, despite recollections from some attendees that dredging occurred prior to the canal estate being built.”
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Mr Gouldthorp said that since completion of Bluewater in 2005, the council had been responsible for managing the dredging and had passed on most of the costs to the property owners who benefitted from the access provided.
“The cost of services is going up, and in the case of our dredging responsibilities, operational constraints have further inflated the charges. (The) council is required by legislation to ensure adequate access to the Bluewater canals and we recover those costs through a special charge applied to property owners within the canal development,” he said.
“No one wants to pay an additional special charge with their rates and we understand that.
“We’ve been in conversations directly with impacted residents and marinas to explain why the charge, which has been in place since 2005, has increased.”
Mr Gouldthorpe said it was not a profitable service and the council paid for about 13 per cent of the cost.
