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Council is delighted Kangaloon borefield is off the agenda, but warns the devil is in the detail
Wingecarribee Shire Mayor Gordon Lewis said today he is absolutely delighted with last night's announcement by NSW Minister for Water, Nathan Rees, that the NSW Government has decided to shelve construction of proposed borefields at Kangaloon, but cautions the devil is in the detail.
"We are delighted the Government has seen fit to pull this proposal off the agenda. Our entire council was unanimously opposed to the proposition and there wouldn't have been a person in the shire who thought the idea had merit," said Mayor Lewis, who thanked his council, community groups and other organisations for their concerted effort to oppose the proposal.
"However I remain concerned that the land acquisitions, planning approval and tender design will be continued. The Minister says this will enable reactivation without delay should they need the water in future and that worries me," he noted.
The project would have involved the construction and operation of a borefield to supply water during severe drought periods from the Upper Nepean Catchment at Kangaloon, requiring significant infrastructure, including; 75 production bores, up to 90 monitoring bores, up to 10 stream gauge locations, 35 kilometres of pipelines on Sydney Catchment Authority land, up to 15 kilometres of pipelines across road reserve and private land, connecting all production bores to a fibre optic network to remotely operate the borefield, two river discharge locations with adjacent water treatment facilities, refurbishment of power lines, construction of new lines and cross connections, and connection of all production bores and the water treatment facilities to mains power.
Mayor Gordon Lewis said that his council and the community was concerned about a range of issues had the project proceeded, including;
- the sustainability of the sandstone aquifer system and its ability to supply the expected quantities of groundwater during severe drought periods,
- impacts on natural ecosystems,
- impacts on the visual amenity of the area,
- impacts on the surface water and shallow groundwater of the area (including the effects on springs and upland swamps) and
- impact on other land uses, particularly agriculture, in the area (including the impact on private bores that are used for domestic, stock and irrigation purposes).
Contact details
Mayor Gordon Lewis
Tel: 0409 127010
wscmail@wsc.nsw.gov.au
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