Peninsula Community Access Edition 259
News Phone 4325 7369 Fax 4339 2307
21 February 2011
Electricity growth is double average Electricity demand of the 6000 electricity customers between Kincumber South and Hardys Bay has grown by more than six per cent a year in recent years, according Energy Australia.
Jetties at Woy Woy Bay
Bays group welcomes jetties review The Bays Community Group has welcomed a review of rents charged to jetty owners, which will be undertaken by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal. Community Group president Mr Bob Puffett said owners of jetties in Woy Woy were currently being charged unfairly. “Many residents in the bays have very long jetties because of the nature of our waterway. “We welcome the review because at present they are paying outrageous amounts for access to deep water,” said Mr Puffett. “Many of these residents are on fixed incomes and have been living in The Bays for a long time,” he said. The review is also supported by the Waterfront Action Group, a sub-group of the Boat Owners Association of New South Wales, a peak representative body for recreational boaters in NSW. Secretary Mr George Citer said: “The owners of long jetties in the Woy Woy area, where the water is shallow and they need long jetties to get to deep water, are disadvantaged because they are charged on the basis of the area of mud and water under their jetties,” said Mr Citer. “Someone who has a short jetty
in deep water pays a much lower rent,” he said. “The old formula included a 3.05 per cent rate of return which is substantially more than the actual rate of return, which is actually less than one per cent. “So everyone on the Central Coast has been dramatically overcharged,” he said. “The Land and Property Management Authority has also failed to update the rate of return as used in the old formula since 2004, so that all licence holders in the Central Coast area have been overcharged by at least three times the market rent for the mud and water under their jetties because of the use of a rate of return that is now seven years out of date,” said Mr Citer. According to Mr Citer, the Waterfront Action Group, the Auditor-General of NSW and the NSW Valuer General have all been critical of either the formula or its application over the last five years. The current rental formula was recommended by the tribunal in 2004 and is applied to around 8500 tenancies across NSW by the Land and Property Management Authority and NSW Maritime. Mr Puffett said: “We are aware that a resident in Daleys Point last year had his fee reduced by 43 per
cent as a result of an appeal to the local landlord. “While this gives us hope it’s very important that the review consider all the factors impacting on this living on the water,” said Mr Puffett. “Indeed the fee for jetties is outrageous given the massive increase we have had to endure over the last five or six years. “The character of The Bays is partly due to our jetties and our waterways and people who live on the water actually contribute to maintaining clean water ways because they clean up floating rubbish and take pride in where they live.” To inform its decision-making, the tribunal will release an Issues Paper and call for public submissions, hold roundtables for discussion and release a draft report for stakeholder comment. The tribunal plans to provide a final report before the end of the year. Media Release, 19 Jan 2011 George Citer, WAG Media Release, 19 Jan 2011 Matthew Edgerton, IPART Interviewee: 17 Feb 2011 Bob Puffett, Bays Community Group
“This is more than double the average increase on other parts of Energy Australia’s network and we forecast this will continue for some time,” said Energy Australia media advisor Mr Allyn Hamonet. “This is being driven, in part, by increased use of air conditioning and the conversion of traditional holiday homes to more permanent dwellings. “As a result of this increased energy usage, existing power lines supplying the area are now approaching maximum capacity,” he said. The Empire Bay substation was expected to address present and future demand in areas such as Empire Bay, Killcare Heights, Hardys Bay and Daleys Point as well as improve reliability in these areas, he said. Mr Hamonet said Energy Australia was not expecting future developments as big as the current
$50 million substation upgrade at Empire Bay. “We do not anticipate the need for further zone substation developments in the area in the near future unless an unexpected large development arises.” Mr Hamonet said the $50 million project was expected to have an operational life span of 50 years and would be capable of meeting projected increases in demand for the foreseeable future. Future network upgrades in the Peninsula area are expected to include a $7 million project to replace the underground electricity network supplying St Huberts Island and a $7 million upgrade to the street network serving customers in Wagstaffe, Booker Bay, Ettalong, Hardys Bay, Pretty Beach and Killcare. “To continue to provide a safe and reliable supply of electricity, ongoing maintenance and upgrade work will continue to be carried out on the street network supplying customers across the Peninsula,” said Mr Hamonet. Kaitlin Watts, 18 Feb 2011 Interviewee: Allyn Hamonet
Greens would make Woy Woy a ‘real hospital’ Greens candidate for Gosford Dr Peter Freewater would work to make Woy Woy Hospital “a real public hospital” if elected to State parliament. He said the Greens would reopen the Woy Woy rehabilitation unit and inject funds into the hospital. “We want to strengthen Woy Woy hospital services,” said Dr Freewater. “I won’t just reopen the rehabilitation unit. “I’ll secure the money to turn Woy Woy into a real public hospital so elderly residents and mums don’t have to journey
to Gosford all the time. “I’ll stop Council from rezoning the hospital to residential and stop the State Government from selling it. “The Greens plan to increase investment in services and reverse the underinvestment under previous governments,” he said. Dr Freewater said the Greens wanted to keep services in public services to prevent them being stripped away from people who needed them most, as they would be if privatised. Media Release, 16 Feb 2011 Peter Freewater, The Greens
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