The Lavertys Gap hydro power station was installed in 1919. In 1939, during the Great Depression, people had no money, and Council decided to get water for them from above the power station. Council got together some unemployed people, and they dug a trench and laid a six-inch water main from Lavertys Gap to Mullumbimby Reservoir.
My father, on his farm, where he produced milk and cream, was told by the health inspector that he needed to have ‘clean water’ for his business. He asked the Council if he could hook onto the new water main, and they said yes. He had to enter a contract for three years to have the water connected, and we’ve been connected to the town water ever since, for 85 years.
According to the Mullumbimby Water Strategy 2024, there are 13 people like myself connected to the trunk main from Lavertys Gap, and those people will be disconnected, and will have to get their water in future from a tank. I’ve got a big property, and produce beef cattle for export and for the local market, but not all paddocks have sufficient natural water, especially in drought times – that’s why my father originally connected to the Council main.
We need water for our home, septic toilet system, and my health as well as my business, which just won’t be able to run the same. As a 90-year-old, I’m very distressed about this. The 13 other people connected to the town main, some of whom, like myself, were connected by Council originally in 1939, want Council to continue to supply clean potable town water to our properties.
In addition, it would seem ridiculous to decommission an existing town water supply system that provides resilience to Mullumbimby – this vital resource (the water supply from Lavertys Gap) should be maintained.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
