Just when we thought we’d seen the last of the Dunoon Dam, over a year after it was scrapped in 2020, a Rous councillor is moving a motion to put it back on the table.
The 2021 LGA elections saw the Dunoon Dam used as a platform for swaying votes on December 4, often the choice of ‘toilet water’ or the dam the only possibilities offered by candidates.
Now that this term of local government has begun, Ballina, Lismore and Richmond Valley Council have seen pro-dam councillors elected to the Rous Country Council which is made up of eight councillors – two from each of the constituent councils of Ballina, Byron, Lismore and Richmond Valley.
With the swearing-in of this term’s representatives, councils chose Councillors Sharon Cadwallader and Rod Bruem for Ballina, Councillors Michael Lyon and Sarah Ndiaye for Byron, Councillors Andrew Gordon and Big Rob for Lismore and Councillors Robert Mustow and Sandra Humphrys for Richmond Valley.
Ballina’s new Mayor Sharon Cadwallader has been nothing if not desperate to see the dam approved and has gone to extraordinary lengths to see it become a reality.
Ms Cadwallader has been voted on to Rous and she joins at least five other dam supporters on the Council.
Apart from the Byron representation, this group of Councillors have been clear about their support of the dam.
A motion to put the dam back on the table
After their first get together, Cr Big Rob, who was elected to Lismore City Council at the 42nd count, seems to be setting a trend of trying to reverse past decisions and has put forward a motion to revisit the outcome voted on by Rous in December 2020, to take the dam off the table.
Cr Rob’s motion – That Rous County Council:
1. Adopt Revision 7 of the Integrated Water Cycle Management (IWCM) Strategy and update Revision 7 of the IWCM to reflect the inclusion of Dunoon dam investigations as part of the Future Water Project 2060
2. Approve the completion of detailed cultural heritage and biodiversity assessments associated with the proposed Dunoon dam in consultation with relevant Traditional Custodians.
3. Defer implementing the resolution associated with the proposed Dunoon dam, resolved by Council at its meeting of 16 December 2020 (resolution [61/20] Item 2), until after Stage 3 options have been determined.
4. Utilise existing budget allocations for Dunoon dam land management to progress the actions in Item 2.
The Widjabul Wia-bal people’s very clear ‘no’
In regards to point 2, the Widjabul Wia-bal say they have been nothing but very clear about what they do and don’t want – and the dam is what they don’t want, the water would drown around 25 burial places within the proposed dam area. They also don’t t want any more Cultural Heritage Studies done.
Last week Cate Faehrmann MLC and Catherine Cusack MLC visited the site – Ms Faehrmann said she believed the cultural significance of the site made this an issue for government at both state and federal level. ‘It’s not up to Rous. It’s far beyond Rous,’ she said.
Ballina’s new Mayor and Rous councillor Sharron Cadwallader says that it is a decision for Rous in the first instance. ‘It’s not beyond Rous’s mandate.’
‘I applaud MLC Catherine Cusack from Lennox Head for doing her own research into water security for our region. It is only when one becomes fully informed that they truly understand the situation, associated issues and the facts. I too have walked the dam footprint.
‘With assistance, it took me four hours and would not have been able to navigate the terrain on my own because it is so inaccessible.’
Further down the track
Cr Cadwallader said Ms Cusack is right when she says there is a lot more work that needs to be done on the proposal. ‘The unfortunate thing is, had All Options been left on the table we would be that much further down the track of investigating the Dunoon Dam to see if it is going to be viable or not and ultimately securing the future water needs for our growing communities.
‘There is a lot to be concerned about with predictions that by 2024 demand will outstrip supply and our communities may be living with indefinite water restrictions. We don’t want to be in the same situation as we were in in 2002-3 when Rocky Creek Dam got down to 21 per cent and the Wilsons River source had to be brought online as an emergency costing millions of dollars. Something like $110M to date, and even in the last dry period the inflows reduced to almost nothing.
‘We need to be preparing for the dry periods now during these wet periods because we know that the changing climate is bringing us extended periods of wet and dry seasons.’
Motion ‘deeply offensive’ to Widjabul Wia-bal
Cr Rob, who put his hand up and was voted onto Lismore Council’s Aboriginal Advisory Group, has not endeared himself with the local mob.
Widjabul Wia-bal Elder Aunty Leonee Roberts Nowta says that the Dunoon Dam motion is disrespectful to Widjabul Wia-bal people. ‘For Cr Rob to put forward this motion just after his motion to go back on the Sleeping Lizard handback promise, shows an unwillingness to listen to Traditional Owners.
‘His motion is deeply offensive to us.
‘We must protect the resting place of our ancestors. No dam at Dunoon.’
The new Rous County Council will meet at the Rous Administration Centre this Wednesday, February 16, at 10am.
Many No-Dunoon-Dam supporters will gather at the Rous building on Molesworth Street from 9am.
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