THE TWEED SHIRE Volume 1 #20 Thursday, January 22, 2009 Advertising and news enquiries: Phone: (02) 6672 2280 Fax: (02) 6672 4933 editor@tweedecho.com.au adcopy@tweedecho.com.au www.tweedecho.com.au
News page 3 Feature page 16
LOCAL & INDEPENDENT
Tweed’s On top of the world water assets secured Ken Sapwell
Tweed Shire Council appears to have fended off a threatened takeover of its water assets valued at $1 billion. An independent inquiry into regional water supplies and sewerage service has recommended that the Tweed remains as a stand-alone entity. Its findings have been hailed by council’s general manager, Mike Rayner, as ‘good news’ for the Tweed – but not everyone agrees (see page 2). ‘It means that the council will continue to manage, own and operate our water supply and sewerage services,’ said Mr Rayner. The inquiry, initiated by then Water Minister and now Premier, Nathan Rees, examined options to improve the organisational structure of local water utilities to overcome supply shortages during droughts. It found that the Tweed – along with just seven other councils in the state – should remain as stand-alone utilities. The remainder would form alliances with neighbouring councils or operate under the umbrella of newly established water corporations. Mr Rayner, in a memo to councillors following the report’s release this month, warned of the possible consequences if the government failed to adopt the inquiry’s stand-alone recommendation following the public consultation process. ‘If options other than those recommended in the report are ultimately adopted Tweed’s water supply and sewerage services could be aggregated with the Richmond Valley resulting in the potential loss of asset ownership,’ he told them. The council argued against removal of water and sewerage services from its control in a submission to the inquiry, saying it would create inefficiencies and lead to higher water costs.
Valerie Skinner, a Kingscliff retiree who started mountain climbing late in life, inches her way up the spectacular but treacherous Eiger in the Swiss Alps last year. The 70-year-old is pictured climbing up via the Mitteleggi Ridge, the easterly and second most dangerous route to the summit. She was accompanied by her 37-year-old French guide Alexandre Périnet, who took this picture. The north face of The Eiger is called the Wall of Death because so many mountaineers have died attempting it. The tragic conquest of the Eiger via its north face in the 1930s and other mountaineering dramas featured in a gripping ABC TV documentary this week called The Beckoning Silence with British climber Joe Simpson. In next week’s Echo we profile Valerie and her exciting exploits as told in her new book Mountains My Passion.
It says the current drought has had little impact on the ability of the council to supply water to its consumers. ‘In all, over the last 25 years restrictions have been imposed for a total period of four months which occurred on one occasion from October 2002 until February 2003,’ the council’s submission said. ‘Historically the Tweed district water supply has been very reliable and the council is well placed to handle the effects of climate change.’
The submission notes that a recent analysis of the latest data has required the council to downgrade its yield from 27,000 to 13,750 mega litres per year which will support a population of some 94,000 people. ‘This revised yield has been adopted on an interim basis and will be reassessed in the near future following the completion of a demand management strategy and an assessment of climate change,’ it says. It also notes that additional dam storage will
be required within the next 10 years, and that the council is looking at two options which include the raising of the existing dam and construction of a new dam on council-owned land at Byrrill Creek. Long-serving former councillor Max Boyd said the report’s findings were a tribute to the forward planning of the council’s engineering staff. ‘It means that the council remains as master continued on page 2
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