Has anyone read the Engeny report supplied to Byron Council on the stormwater strategy for Byron Bay?
There are several worrying issues raised in the report. One being the contamination of the Belongil Estuary, it is stated that one of the main contributors to the contamination is the treated effluent leaving the Byron sewage treatment plant (STP).
This is the effluent leaving the constructed wetlands.
As a member of Council’s Water Waste & Sewer Advisory Committee (WW&SAC), I was at the meeting held on 31 May, 2018. A man named Mr David Pont was introduced to the committee as the foremost expert on wetlands in NSW by the then utility manager.
Mr Pont was flown out from Indonesia, supplied with a hire car at Brisbane airport to drive to Byron to attend the meeting.
I did work with Mr Pont as the sewer operator in charge of West Byron STP. Mr Pont was asked by the utility manager to confirm a constructed wetlands existed at Ocean Shores STP. Mr Pont stated that no constructed wetlands existed at the STP. Mr Pont was then left sitting for the rest of the meeting without being asked any other question.
When the chair asked if there was any other comment before the meeting closed Mr Pont said he would like to comment on an issue, Mr Pont proceeded to say that Council had paid for him to attend today, and stated he had got to Byron earlier in the day and gone to the West Byron Wetlands and walked around.
Mr Pont stated the wetlands was in a terrible state, and there was no way it would be supplying the quality of treated effluent it was designed to, and whoever was meant to be maintaining the wetlands should be removed. No questions asked. The chair closed the meeting.
Is it possible that no action has been taken in the wetlands since 2018 to remedy the wetlands issue, despite the foremost expert in wetlands who also was involved in the design and construction of the wetlands flagging there were serious issues pertaining to the wetlands maintenance? What was done to investigate this, anything?
I understand some members of Byron Bird Buddies had expressed concerns earlier this year about the same issue.
We have some of the residents of Bayside Brunswick questioning the performance of their stormwater collection system for the last eight years. One response to them was along the lines that ‘I was not here when the system was constructed – so not my problem’.
Earlier this year, Council staff finally used CCTV to inspect the stormwater system at Bayside Brunswick, and reported it was full of gravel and tree roots.
Now what, Council?
Alan Dickens, Byron Bay
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