I fully appreciate your comments; however I am unable to reconcile how the Mayors of Townsville and Thuringowa can ignore media releases from NQ Water over the past 3 or more months that imply moves to take over wastewater and water treatment assets are afoot. Even to the extent of treatening to withhold water from the community (Townsville Bulletin, Jan 2007). To remove these assets from the community would remove two key revenue raising assets from community control. This smells of a repeat of the bulk water sell-off to NQ Water in the 90's. Surely there is a major conflict of interest with the Mayors of the two impacted communities holding poistions on the NQ Water board; and it is unconscionable for neither mayor to have made significant pubilc comment about these pending deals in recent time. This is not competition but a sell-a-thon. What is needed up here is an amalgamation and absorbtion of NQ Water into the single local government entity thus formed. This would have untold benefits for the proper integration of regional development, infrastructure planning, and water catchment management along a significant portion of the coastal range here. At present all we have is a confusion of conflicting interests from 3 parties who do not get along! There need to be something like the NCC to shake it up!!