Tillegra Cost Blowout - A taste of things to come

Thursday, 23 October 2008 21:45

TEC is calling on the NSW Government to shelve Tillegra Dam as an expensive and unnecessary white elephant in the November mini-budget.

TEC Urban Campaigner Mr Leigh Martin said “This is only the beginning for Hunter Water customers. Without so much as a single pipe or piece of concrete laid, Hunter Water’s costs have already been shown to be woefully inadequate. The experience of Sydney’s desalination plant shows that more and more price rises will be needed as construction and operating costs inevitably blow out further.”

Hunter Water has lodged a revised submission with the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) review of Hunter Water prices revealing that the average impact on customers will be $389 year. Hunter Water’s original submission to the Tribunal claimed that an average increase of $322 would be needed. Serious doubts remain about the adequacy of Hunter Water’s geotechnical investigations.

“Hunter Water’s credibility on Tillegra Dam now lies in tatters. With major concerns having been raised about the geological stability of the proposed dam site and the adequacy of Hunter Water’s geotechnical data site the warnings of dam opponents about a massive blow out in costs should be ringing loud and clear in the State Government’s ears,” Mr Martin said.

“With Hunter Water storages close to full despite the worst drought on record and Gosford-Wyong water securing its supply through the Mardi-Mangrove pipeline there is simply no need for Tillegra Dam. The State Government should save the NSW Taxpayers a massive debt burden and prevent an unfair and unaffordable cost burden for Hunter families,” Mr Martin said.