General News
25 August, 2026
Water works cause anxiety
RESIDENTS of Coquette Point are expressing unease after learning through news reports that millions of dollars in state government funding has been earmarked to bring reticulated water to their quiet, partly off-grid community.
A recent media release from the Cassowary Coast Regional announced $5.1 million secured via the Queensland Government’s Residential Activation Fund.
The cash injection is slated to deliver a new water pump station and a 4.75-kilometre water main.
While Mayor Teresa Millwood welcomed the funding as a vital investment to “unlock future residential development,” local homeowners worry the infrastructure will destroy the character of their rural haven and leave them with unexpected bills.
The secluded headland, located just east of Innisfail at the Johnstone River mouth, currently comprises around 40 private homes that rely entirely on rainwater tanks and private pumps.
For many, the first inkling of any change came via media reports rather than direct council engagement.
Local resident Di Wheeler said the lack of communication has sparked anger and anxiety throughout the neighbourhood.
“For a start, it wasn’t properly done as far as we’re all concerned,” Ms Wheeler told The Observer. “We weren’t notified. We weren’t told about the water.”
Concerned about rumours of looming housing subdivisions, Ms Wheeler reached out to Cassowary Coast Deputy Mayor Nicholas Pervan.
She said Cr Pervan somewhat allayed residents’ fears, assuring her the project was primarily about providing water security to existing homes rather than opening the floodgates to major housing developments.
“I got in touch with him and I told him, and he said, ‘Oh no, that’s not right. It’s nothing to do with housing’,” Ms. Wheeler recalled.
Despite those verbal assurances, residents remain sceptical.
The language in council’s official release explicitly ties the $5.1m grant to “supporting future residential development” and “unlocking future housing opportunities.”
Beyond the threat of urban sprawl, homeowners are worried about the direct financial impact of being forced onto town water.
“That concerns us because that’s going to cost us money,” Ms. Wheeler said. “And if we do get connected to it, are they going to replace our tanks and pumps and everything else?
“Most people would just keep tanks and have the connection, but we’d still have to pay for the water every year.”
Questions have also been raised about the practicalities and environmental footprint of the project.
Coquette Point’s steep, rocky terrain and status as critical habitat for the endangered southern cassowary make major pipelaying works a delicate proposition.
“Five million dollars isn’t that much, especially up there,” Ms. Wheeler noted. “A lot of it’s rock. And what about the cassowaries? There’s lots of cassowaries up there.”
Cassowary Coast Regional Council has confirmed the $5.1 m funding will extend reliable, treated water infrastructure to improve long-term water security and reduce reliance on private arrangements.
The council said that no final decision had been made regarding “which existing properties will be required to connect or how water access charges will ultimately apply across Coquette Point”.
Council emphasised these issues will be considered separately during the detailed design phase, also promising in the statement to “keep Coquette Point residents informed” and that it “will undertake further consultation with the community before arrangements are finalised”.
Read More: Cassowary Coast