THE TWEED SHIRE Volume 2 #15 Thursday, December 10, 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
Our new property guide starts on page 19 LOCAL & INDEPENDENT
Water-saving ideas rejected at meeting Luis Feliu
Water-saving options for Tweed residents such as rainwater tanks, recycling, composting toilets as well as population caps were suggested and rejected at a public meeting on Monday night which looked at Tweed Shire Council’s plan to increase the shire’s water supply. Around 80 people attended the meeting at Uki Hall, called by the Caldera Environment Centre and affected residents from Byrrill Creek concerned about the proposal to dam their creek, one of four options under discussion to increase the shire’s water supply. The other options are raising Clarrie Hall Dam’s wall to double its storage capacity and building pipelines to connect with southeast Queensland or Lismore Shire water supplies, as well as sourcing groundwater supplies. The augmentation project’s manager, Tim Mackney, seconded from the state Department of Public Works, explained the options and the process to achieve them, saying population growth was the reason to increase the supply because by 2017 the projected number of residents would exceed the shire’s water supply capacity. ‘The objective is to ensure our water supply for the next 30 years,’ he said. But when the meeting was opened up to questions, many locals suggested other ways to reduce water use and increase the shire’s supply. Uki resident Natalie Hollingsworth was applauded after she asked why there was no building rules to force new developments to have rainwater tanks. ‘We don’t want to dam our beautiful valley,’ she said. Tweed Shire Council’s water manager Anthony Burnham said that state government policy in the past three
Restored biplane gets the thumbs up
years has resulted in new or modified developments having rainwater tanks to a maximum of 3,000 litres but restricted to three uses: washing, toilet flushing and external use. Rainwater tanks were not permitted in urban areas to be used for drinking water Some residents interjected, saying that was ‘absurd’ and asked ‘why not?’ while others said 3,000 litres was too small. Mr Burnham said council’s water demand management strategy had identified that 5,000-litre rainwater tanks produced a significant decrease in overall demand but council had no power to enforce their use.
Reuse not explored Another resident, Reverend Dr John Tyman, who said he was ‘raised on recycled waste-water’ asked why options of reuse were not explored, but Mr Burnham said council was bound by state government policy and unable to pursue the recycled waste-water option for drinking. One local said ‘it sounds very stupid to hook up to Gold Coast water because they’ll run out quicker than we do’. Another asked why the population could not be capped from 2015 at sustainable levels ‘so we don’t have to cause such devastating damage to the landscape’. Mr Burnham said the shire’s current population of around 85,000 was expected to grow significantly in the next decade with existing zoned land already committed to cater for that growth, but the existing water supply could not meet the expected demand. Doon Doon farmer Ron Duckworth, who would be affected if the dam wall was raised, asked why large developments such a shopping centres did not have large rainwater
Nick Challinor, left, and Steve Searle guide the Tiger Moth piloted by Australian aerobatic champion Paul Bennet into its hangar at Murwillumbah Airfield last Friday. Photo Luis Feliu
Current Australian aerobatic champion Paul Bennet described it as the best Tiger Moth he’d ever flown after test-flying the historic restored biplane in the skies over Murwillumbah last Friday. The bright-yellow former World War II trainer, complete with war insignia, is owned by Beaudesert businessman and historic-aircraft collector Steve Searle and was fully restored by Nick Challinor of Mothcair Aviation Services at Murwillumbah Airfield.
Mr Searle, in Murwillumbah to oversee the restoration, told The Echo the biplane would be the latest addition to go on display at the World War II-themed museum he is establishing on his property at Beaudesert with the help of the local RSL. ‘It’s the first time it’s been flown since 1965, it’s the best Tiger Moth on the planet, everything is original, to the book and done in its original fabric,’ Mr Searle said. Mr Searle and Sydney-based Mr Bennet flew to Murwillumbah from Queensland in another historic war-
plane, an Australian-made Wirraway which will be the centrepiece of his Wirraway Aviation Museum. ‘These two planes were the RAAF’s pilot trainer aircraft and trained all Aussie pilots during World War II,’ Mr Searle said. ‘We’re currently setting the museum up. We have a B25, two Hudson bombers, three Avengers, an L5 Stinson, and we also have a Douglas A20 flown by the late US billionaire Howard Hughes,. ‘We hope to open to the public next April.’
tanks for toilet flushing and washing down pavements. He said if the dam wall was raised, food-producing land would be inundated. Mr Burnham said rainwater tanks for industrial use were being considered in the shire’s demand management strategy being finalised. Mr Duckworth also asked why affected landowners at Clarrie Hall Dam and Byrrill Creek only had one representative on the community
working group for the project while others had two, but Mr Burnham said the CWG was not meant to be a ‘straight show of hands on every issue’ but a collaborative approach. Former council water unit officer, Paul Taylor, of Uki, said the community consultation was ‘a sham and smokescreen’, as the process ‘was already well under way’ and the four options available ‘already alienate many in the community’.
‘Next time you drive to town, glance to your right when in Bray Park and you’ll see that massive development on the hill which is our new $100 million water treatment plant. Who do you think is going to pay for that? This council does not want you surviving on tank water alone, it’s not in their interest. Neither is water conservation,’ he said. ‘Those little things in everyone’s
Luis Feliu
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