In response to Lucy Vader, (The Echo letters – August 7) I am not fear-mongering relating to the financial burden that would be imposed on the residents of Mullumbimby if we were to build a brand new water treatment plant and a 200 ML dam in the flats between Mullumbimby and Wilsons Creek.
This is simply the provision of information that was missing from the Mullumbimby Residents Association (MRA) ‘submission guide’ when they failed to inform people of the massive difference in cost between the two options.
This issue has been politicised in rather gross fashion and it was admitted in Council today by the MRA that Cr Dey wrote that submission guide.
Cr Dey is obsessed with proving that he knows better, but as his letter to the editor of The Echo last week shows, he either hasn’t the faintest clue how financial analysis works and the time value of money, or he is being deliberately disingenuous and continuing to play dirty politics.
Either way, we passed a motion today [last week] to have all the costings updated into 2024 dollars so that we can understand more clearly the choice before us. The Hydrosphere report was published in October 2021, recommending connecting to Rous, that is how long we have been kicking this can down the road.
The current treatment plant is at end of life, cannot be upgraded and a new one cannot be built on the current site, hence why it is the far more costly option.
Gravity-feeding from the pristine rainforest catchment water of Rocky Creek Dam is also the least energy-intensive option and best environmental option as it allows the restoration of all flows to Wilsons Creek.
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. 
