Paul Bibby
Tweed Council will vote tomorrow on whether to continue its fight to ban commercial water extraction in the Shire.
The Council has been lobbying the State Government to change the Local Environment Plan (LEP) to outlaw the practice.
Such a change requires approval from the NSW Water Minister, Melinda Pavey.
Late last year the Council wrote to Minister Pavey request that all licences for bulk water extraction for commercial water bottling be temporarily suspended’ in the Tweed Shire.
Council’s motion highlighted that there were many waterways with low/no flows in the Tweed Shire.
Drought conditions have since eased significantly, raising the question of whether the push to ban extraction need continue.
However, the Northern Rivers Guardians community group argues that the campaign should continue to ensure the long-term sustainability of water resources in the Shire.
It is calling on locals to attend tomorrow’s council meeting at the Tweed Heads chambers starting at 5pm to lend their support to the campaign.
Thank you Tweed Council. Never seen the Valley as dry, even after three years if drought in the 80s. When our places are at high risk of fire, and creeks, rivers and dams are dry there’s obviously a problem.
We need to protect our water resources for the community, water is not a money spinning ‘product’ for the greedy.
The issue of huge trucks damaging our roads and endangering other road users is also significant. Nearly been forced off the roads several times by speeding water trucks at times they shouldn’t have been operating..
Water extraction only brings benefit to the extractor, but creates damage to water travel, pollution with bottles. Effects farms. Say no tweed council.
We really don’t need water extraction business at all. People can filter water and fill a reusable bottle.
Water is now more import to human survival than ever before. We all need to get with the program of saving the earth if we want to keep it .
Please Tweed council and other councils and governments fight to stop the practice of water mining .
Has no one on Tweed Council seen the documentaries on the world wide rape of public water supplies by greedy companies with masses of money who always seem to win legislative battles by lobbying governments, using campaign donations etc? (see episode on water in ROTTEN on Netflix…its not always just a problem for people of colour in the third world)…
Aren’t there already some local licenses granted in Tweed bottling away our public water, increasing truck traffic in Murwillumbah with ruinous results for the neighbourhood? How did they ever get approval? Were they “people of influence”? Love to see which pollies voted those in published widely. Hopefully all those licenses can be reviewed and revoked and those pollies get dumped fast in the next elections!
There is no way in the world we need to allow companies to make money off public water and cause more pollution by bottling it in yet more plastic! Pity the masses haven’t yet caught on how stupid they look if they are still buying/carrying around single use plastic bottles of water! Are we really so pathetic we need celebrities to show us how “unfashionable and bogan” plastic water bottles are?