FUTURE OF DUNGOG HINGES ON TILLEGRA DAM

Posted on 18 July 2011

"FUTURE DIRECTION FOR DUNGOG"

[ARTICLE AND PHOTO FROM THE DUNGOG CHRONICLE JULY 13] 

On a visit to Dungog last Wednesday Robert Brown MLC from the Shooters and a Fishers Party conceded the town was in trouble.

Mr Brown was invited to Dungog by two businessmen who say their livelihoods have been threatened by the decision not to proceed with the dam.

Martin Thorsby and Tim Olsen and local councillor Glenn Wall meet with Mr Brown and discussed the future of the shire.

“I had two new blokes to put on and a $450,000 loan organised to build more sheds,” Mr Thorsby said.

“Why invest in something if the dam doesn’t go ahead.

“Sooner or later this dam will have to be built.

“I believe the State Government needs to have Hunter Water come back with five options for water security in the future.

“They need to take into account desalination and Tillegra Dam and I can tell you the dam will win hands down in both dollars and carbon footprint.

“A desal plant will cost four, five, six time more to set up than the dam. And then you need a power station to run it.

“The carbon footprint will be enormous.

“You only have to look at the growth within Newcastle, Maitland and Huntlee up at Branxton.

“Where are they going to get a reliable source of water from?”

The three men told Mr Brown the state government’s decision not to build the dam has left Hunter Water with approximately 20,000 acres of land that is not being used to its agricultural potential.

Cr Wall said Hunter Water has implemented a short-term option for the land to be leased back until a determination can be made”.

“We don’t want the land locked up and isolated, it would be a disaster,” he said.

“Given that Hunter Water is considering lease agreements of three years, one would expect that a determination on how best to augment the Hunters future water supply would be completed during this period.

“A shire-wide rural land strategy needs to be completed.

“This could identify that land in the upper reaches of the shire and land adjoining National Parks and State Forests should not be subdivided less than 60ha or subdivision increased on this figure and that rural land closer to towns and villages, obviously linked to road hierarchy and standard, could be considered for subdivision less than the current 60ha standard.

“The timing is absolutely right for this with the NSW Government introducing a range of new initiatives designed to address concerns around land use conflicts in our regional areas, particularly between mining industries and agricultural industries.

“If we can fall in line with this NSW Government initiative and have a Rural Land Study completed, this will encapsulate the land identified for the Tillegra Dam, if it is not required.

“Any land use planning for the dam precinct has to be included in a shire wide document as it cannot be investigated as a stand alone land parcel.”

Mr Brown agreed, saying the land has to be used and not turned into a national park where council would not receive any rates for it.

“If they [Hunter Water] sell it and the decision is reversed, they would have to turn around and buy it back again,” he said.

“I hope the government is smart enough not to sell the land.

“The dam will be needed in the next 50 years. You can’t keep building desal plants but you need power stations to run them.

“The government has to stop the mass exodus from this town – I can see already three or four shops have closed or are closing.

“New South Wales is doomed to a caveman-like existence. Labor has to stop answering to the Greens.

“In the last 50 to 60 years the government has not spent any money on infrastructure.

“We need to get people out of the cities and into the country to live, but we need good roads and railways so they have access to places like Newcastle.

Last Wednesday’s meeting with Mr Brown follows a number of Dungog business people attending the community Cabinet held in Newcastle in late June, meeting with the Minister for Primary Industries and Small Business Katrina Hodgkinson to discuss the future water requirements of the Hunter Region and future use of the Tillegra land.

One of the points raised was that Tillegra Dam project is viewed by many locally as a valuable project to deliver an essential resource that was mishandled by the previous government with the result that facts and commonsense lost out to scaremongering and political expedience.

The group also said while no other solution has been found to expand the Hunter’s water resources to service future growth, the community remains in a position of uncertainty regarding the future use of this land and the direction Dungog Shire Council could take.

Through Ms Hodgkinson and Mr Brown the group has requested that the NSW Government direct Hunter Water to undertake a full investigation as to the future water requirements of the Hunter Region including planned growth, impact of climate change and a drought proofing.

They also want Tillegra Dam to be included in the review so a decision can be made on the best option based on facts.