REPORTS on community consultation into how best to manage and fund revetment wall and waterway maintenance at Raby Bay, Aquatic Paradise and Sovereign Waters estates have been made public.
The consultation found there was some support for funding to continue as in the past, with all ratepayers paying but the highest contributions coming from those who benefited most.
The reports, included in the council agenda, were noted by councillors on Wednesday.
Council budgeted nearly $6.5 million this financial year for maintenance and construction of canals and lake revetment walls and waterway maintenance.
It is expected the reports will inform the council budget for the next financial year.
Council decided in June last year to consult the wider Redlands community over the issue.
The $240,000 process included a 40-member citizens’ advisory panel, ratepayer association engagement, a telephone and face-to-face survey and market research.
The panel, a first for Redlands, was run by community engagement experts Articulous Communications and Max Hardy Consulting.
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The panel members met for three full-day sessions, visited the canals and lake and had access to detailed information.
Mayor Karen Williams said the panel enabled a group of Redlanders to gain an understanding of the complex issue of canal and lake funding in the city.
“The appropriate level of funding contributed by the city and those who live on the canals and lake has been an ongoing issue for council and canal and lakefront property owners for many years,” Cr Williams said.
She said the wider community was engaged as all ratepayers contributed through their general rates to the maintenance activities at these estates.
Canel and lakefront property owners also pay a special charge.
Council dredges the waterways so they remain navigable and repairs revetment walls that protect public and private land from erosion.
