Will the controversial decision to close Mullumbimby’s local water supply at Lavertys Gap be reversed by Byron’s newly-elected mayor and her fellow councillors?
This is the question that will be answered at Byron Council this week.
In what promises to be a colourful meeting on Thursday, Mayor Sarah Ndiaye will move a motion proposing that any decision on the town’s water supply be deferred for two years while alternative options are considered.
This would at effectively reverse the decision to make the Rous water supply Mullum’s sole water source, at least for now.
‘It was clear from the community consultation that the decision wasn’t reflective of our community’s wants or values,’ Mayor Ndiaye told The Echo ahead of this week’s meeting.
‘It went through during the very last Council meeting of the term, on the strength of the then mayor’s casting vote.
‘In talking to people during the campaign, and looking at the feedback we received through public consultation, it was clear to me that people of all different ages and backgrounds have a strong connection to Lavertys Gap.’
Under Mayor Ndiaye’s motion, Council would do the necessary short-term repairs needed so that Mullum can continue using the Lavertys Gap supply, while there are further investigations into alternative water sources that could supplement this source.
This includes the possibility of off-stream storage, or finding a new ground water source.
But Council staff strongly oppose any further delay in switching to the Rous supply on both health and financial grounds.
‘The plant is now past its useful process life causing a significant day-to-day risk of meeting modern day Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG) causing significant risk to public health,’ said Council’s manager of utilities and infrastructure services, Cameron Clarke.
Mr Clarke said that the water treatment plant connected to Lavertys Gap was unable to process water to the required health standard every time there was a moderate to large rain event.
This meant that the Rous emergency line had to be activated, which was both costly and time consuming.
‘It is no longer operationally sustainable to operate the Rous line as an emergency line,’ Mr Clarke said.
‘Any further delays generate significant risk in potentially Council having to place Mullumbimby on a permanent boil water alert.’
Mr Clarke further argued that studies had already established the costs and benefits of alternative supply scenarios, and that further investigation would simply produce the same findings.
It would cost Council up to $500,000 and delay the process of connecting to Rous by up to two years.
Questionable figures
But Mayor Ndiaye said she disagreed that there was no point conducting further investigations.
‘There were a lot of figures thrown around at the time of the decision, some of which were questionable in my opinion. And there was also this narrative that the rest of the Shire was going to have to subsidise Mullum’s water bills which didn’t make sense either.
‘I think it’s critical to recognise that Rous really doesn’t have a clear strategy at the moment for how it is going to meet the predicted increase in demand.
‘We need to do everything we can to make sure we have a diversity of water supply in our Shire.
‘Giving up a local water source, when we don’t have to, just doesn’t make sense.’
The matter will be debated and voted upon by councillors at this week’s meeting.
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