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The
IPART Final Determination can be viewed at Charges
for Backlog Sewerage Services 2006 - Gosford City Council
Gosford Council's
decision to adopt a strategy to include Mooney Mooney and Cheero Point in the
Brooklyn & Dangar Island Sewerage Treatment Plant and the
IPART determination of pricing methodology for the inclusion of Mooney Mooney
and Cheero Point in the Brooklyn & Dangar Island Sewerage Treatment Plant
has come at a substantial cost to our communities. The current estimate for the
property charge for the Mooney Mooney & Cheero Point residents is
$12,000.00 per house to be connected through the Priority Sewerage Program and
this may increase by the time the works start. When compared to the property
charge of aprox. $200.00 to the (Hornsby Shire or Sydney water rate base)
Brooklyn and Dangar Island households, it shows how discriminated the
communities of Mooney Mooney & Cheero Point have been in this process.
There
are some major equity issues in this determination. As a result of the NSW State
Government methodology, a financial inequity has resulted from the discrepancy
in the sewerage connection charges applied to the communities of
Brooklyn and Dangar Island and the charges applied to communities of Mooney
Mooney and Cheero Point. This major difference in connection pricing has
resulted in splitting these communities and causing a discrepancy for residents
based on what side of the Hawkesbury River they live on.
This
costing discrepancy is not acceptable to our community considering that;
- Our
community is in the same area (within 150 metres) with the same
environmental concerns (ie septic tank leakage to the Hawkesbury River
system) that placed Brooklyn and Dangar Island on the priority sewerage
treatment listing and
- that
Mooney Mooney and Cheero Point are connected to the same Sydney Water supply
system as Brooklyn and Dangar Island and
- are
to be connected to the same new sewerage treatment plant.
The
only differing factor in this issue from Sydney Water and the NSW State
Government is that Mooney Mooney and Cheero Point are in a different council
region.
The
Sydney Water Act states that “Sydney Water Corporation is responsible for the
provision of drinking water, and waste water services and some storm water
services to Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra communities”
This
indicates that the Sydney Water Rate Base is not determined on Sydney
metropolitan local council boundaries as indicated by the government departments
and the IPART representatives.
An
application was lodged on 7 February with the Department of Water and
Utilities Minister David Campbell's policy advisor, Ophelia Cowell, for our
communities to be annexed to the Sydney Rate Base as our 250 households are
connected to the same Sydney Water system as our neighbouring communities of
Brooklyn and Dangar Island. This would eliminate the discrimination against the
communities of Mooney Mooney & Cheero Point evident in this process to date.
The
next step is to approach the NSW State Governor's office for assistance in this
matter.
To
Date;
The
letters from the government ministers have stated that the funding for Brooklyn
and Dangar Island has been based on the subsidies from the Sydney Rate Base. On
this basis we have stressed that as we are paying Sydney Water for our
water supply and as our future sewerage levies, when the new system is up and running,
will ultimately go to the sewerage system for the Sydney Rate Base, thus
contributing to funding future sewerage connections and maintenance for the
Sydney Rate Base and not to the Gosford Shire rate base, then surely our
communities are entitled to the same determination as other Sydney Rate Base
customers.
Gosford
Council spokesperson stated that "if Sydney Water Authority were to own the
whole scheme (i.e. water connections and sewerage connections to Mooney Mooney
& Cheero Point ) this would necessitate changes to the Sydney Water Act 1994
requiring Parliament approval, as there would be a change to the area of
operation. This process would have caused a major delay on this priority project
and was considered to be not acceptable in the current situation."
The
residents have waited years for a sewerage proposal and the general consensus
would be supportive to a further delay for the relevant changes by the NSW state
government, to the Sydney Water Act 1994 if it were to save each household the
majority of the $10,000. connection fee.
When
speaking to Richard Warner of IPART, he stated that quote “where would the
line be drawn for funding if it was not the shire boundaries.” A fair answer
would be that the line should be drawn to the extent of water supply base of
communities connected to the Sydney System which would include Mooney Mooney and
Cheero Point.
It
would be fair to say that the IPART community consultation process was conducted
too early to determine the financial outcome to the residents.
Our
community want a fairer outcome that is not evident in this current
determination and hardly fare when considering that our community is
connected to the same Sydney Water supply system as Brooklyn and Dangar Island
and are to be connected to the same new sewerage treatment plant that was given
priority because of the same environmental issues for the Hawkesbury River in
relation to river communities sewerage systems.
The main
discriminating factor in this determination is that Mooney Mooney & Cheero
Point are in a different council shire and that our communities, by a
distance of 150 meters, are on the Central Coast side of the Hawkesbury River,
thus not recognised as Sydney Water customers.
Grant
Savings for the NSW Sate Government;
The
State Government should consider the savings to the state government grant
process as well. As Gosford Council has been granted the Country Towns and Water
grant subsidy for Mooney Mooney & Cheero Point, the grant has come from the
State Government. If the relevant changes to the Sydney Water Act 1994 were to
be adopted to include communities connect to the Sydney Water connection supply
base system, as is the case for Mooney Mooney and Cheero Point, then the CTW
grant would not be required. The costs difference would be the same as for
Brooklyn and Dangar Island and spread over the Sydney Rate Base at less than $1.
per rate base customer. Our communities number only 249 properties.
People
contacted to date:
NSW
State Minister for Water and Utilities - David Campbell
MP
NSW
Labour for Peats - Marie Andrews MP,
NSW
Premier Morris Iemma office - Jocelyn
Mouawad,
NSW
Liberal - Chris Holstine,
Federal
Liberal - Jim Lloyd MP,
NSW
State Independent Candidate - Debra Wales,
Water &
Sewer - Director - Rod
Williams,
Senior
Manager Water Recycling and Planning - Adrian Langdon,
IPART
- Richard Warner,
Gosford
Council - Pam McCann,
Energy
& Water Ombudsman - Clare Petre,
NSW
Ombudsman- Alison
Shea.
Manager Mooney Mooney Workers Club
- Kevin
Mund
CEO Revesby Workers Club
- Edward
Camilleri
NSW
State Governor Her
Excellency Professor Marie Bashir ACCVO
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