The communications with the previous Minister for Water & Utilities, David Campbell, to consider an application for changes to be made to the Sydney Water Act 1994 to include Mooney Mooney & Cheero Point as customers connected to the Sydney Water System, have failed. 

The new minister for Water & Utilities is now Minister Nathan Rees.

The current system uses the limits of the Hawkesbury River Local Government boundaries. The relevant changes to the Sydney Water Act 1994 would have meant the inclusion of our communities as customers of Sydney Water and part of the Sydney Water Connection supply rate base system.

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Matter to date:

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 $9,650.00 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;

1. 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
2. that Mooney Mooney and Cheero Point are connected to the same Sydney Water supply system as Brooklyn and Dangar Island and
3. 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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Where do we stand with the politicians. 

do you see red?

These are the replies to our correspondence.

Debra Wales Independent :

I would be happy to support whatever your community wants as I believe I'm not here to tell you what you need but to represent you in State Parliament.  For too long now, the Central Coast has lost its voice. I will prepare a media release highlighting your issues.  Because your only 300 votes - Mooney's not going to be a headache for the Labour Government - but just like me you're going to have to be a very loud voice and the media can help. 

I will contact the Independent Member for Hawkesbury Stephen Pringle (we share a border) and see if he's prepared to do something  

Chris Holstine Liberal : 

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Waterfront living on the Hawkesbury River

The Brooklyn Bridge

Mooney Mooney Creek to Snake Island and Cheero Point

The Mooney Mooney River Markets

Last Sunday in each month.

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Change to local government area from Gosford to Hornsby.

An option open to our community is a change to our local government area from Gosford to Hornsby.

This would enable us to apply to Sydney Water as customers of Sydney Water, for a review of our sewerage connection fee structure.

Legal advice received to date stated that - quote " The liability is prospect and not retrospective " meaning that the sewerage connection fee (The liability) to be charged to Mooney Mooney residents has to reflect the situation at the time the works start. 

The word "liability" relates to the sewerage connection charge for the residents, the word "prospect" relates to a situation being current and the word "retrospective" relates to a previous situation.

An application to the Minister for Local Government and the Boundaries Commission were to be successful, we have a good chance of being considered as Sydney Water Customers and in so being under the same guidelines as Brooklyn and Dangar Island residents in relation to the sewerage connection fee.

Currently the shire boundary between Hornsby and Gosford local government areas is the northern shore line of the Hawkesbury River. The southern shore and islands on the Hawkesbury River are included in the Hornsby Shire and the Gosford Shire starts on the Northern shore line.

An application would include a change of the shire boundary between Hornsby and Gosford, from the Hawkesbury River shore line, to the start of the southern end of the Brisbane Water National Park just north of Mooney Mooney. This would enable Mooney Mooney to be included in the Hornsby Shire. 

Advantages and Local Government Act requirements;

Though the advantages of transferring to Hornsby Shire have been debated for some years, the matter has come to a head with the prospect of the sewerage connection discrepancy between the communities of Brooklyn and Dangar Island and Mooney Mooney. That being said, the advantages for the communities of Brooklyn and Mooney Mooney being under one local government area are recognised and details highlighted. Each requirement from the Local Government Act 1993 is addressed as follows.

Local Government Act 1993 (a)   the financial advantages or disadvantages (including the economies or diseconomies of scale) of any relevant proposal to the residents and ratepayers of the areas concerned,

Financial advantages or disadvantages are not an issue to the community as the property rate basis and council billing for services is similar in both shire areas. The current relevant proposal is for the sewerage connection fee discrepancy between the river communities on either local government area to be addressed.

Local Government Act 1993 (b)     the community of interest and geographic cohesion in the existing areas and in any proposed new area,

Community geographical cohesion is considered advantageous with a larger combined community replacing smaller communities segregated by differing shire boundaries.

Local Government Act 1993 (c)     the existing historical and traditional values in the existing areas and the impact of change on them,  

The shared historical and traditional values would also be strengthened by the cohesion of communities under the identification of a single local government area.

Local Government Act 1993 (d)    the attitude of the residents and ratepayers of the areas concerned,

The attitude of a large sector of the community is that they tend to use Hornsby Shire facilities and relate to Hornsby Shire in preference to Gosford Shire due to our geographical positioning, distance travelled to facilities and local facilities available in the area currently under Hornsby Shire. 

Most residents use Hornsby shopping centre for their weekly shopping, banking and commercial needs, as well as library and medical needs such as doctors and hospitals. Brooklyn, again in Hornsby shire, is also used for it's marine, railway station, medical centre, schooling, post office and shopping facilities. 

Other factors influencing the community toward Hornsby Shire include;  

1. The water supply for Mooney Mooney and Cheero Point is connect to Sydney Water through Brooklyn and not from a Gosford Shire water supply. Water restrictions applicable to the Central Coast are not relevant to the area but water restrictions applicable to the Sydney Water rate base are relevant to Mooney Mooney. 

2. Policing is a consideration as we once had access to the Brooklyn and Hornsby police stations but now are directed to Gosford to attend to matters because of new policies. The Police station in Brooklyn also includes the Water Police.

3. The local bus service is from Hornsby and commuters use this service to the Hawkesbury River station and Hornsby's Westfield. 

4. Since the closure of the public school at Mooney Mooney, most of the children attending schools now attend schools in the Hornsby Shire and under the Sydney Region of the Education Department and no longer the Education Department's Hunter and Central Coast Region section.

5. The phone lines and numbers for Mooney Mooney and Cheero Point are also through the same exchange as Brooklyn and the numbers are Sydney phone numbers not Central Coast numbers.

6. The water supply for Mooney Mooney and Cheero Point is connect to Sydney Water through Brooklyn and not from a Gosford Shire water supply and bought under licence from Sydney Water for the residents. The same is proposed for the new sewerage connection for Mooney Mooney and Cheero Point to the Sydney Water Sewerage Treatment Plant at Brooklyn when the facility is up and running.

Infrastructure spending;

Another factor is that the division in local government areas diminishes council spending on infrastructure in the region as communities are segregated into smaller population areas divided by differing local government areas and divided rate based funding.

Should the communities be united under one local government area, the resulting combined rate base would warrant an increased opportunity and facilities in the region. 

Local Government Act 1993 (e) the impact of any relevant proposal on the ability of the councils of the areas concerned to provide adequate, equitable and appropriate services and facilities.

Local government councils in both areas supply similar services to the relevant communities

Send your comments

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Water Connection History

Prior to 1971 the NSW Government facility of Peat Island Hospital (as it was known at the time) including the shore based hospital houses for staff and the Mooney Mooney Workers Club were connected to the Sydney Water Supply and a primary sewerage treatment plant. All privately owned Mooney Mooney properties were on tank water only. The Mooney Mooney Progress Association at the time applied to Gosford Council to have the area connected to the Sydney Water supply through a feed line from the Peat Island Base Water Tower.

In 1971 Gosford Council brokered an agreement with the NSW State Government's department of Sydney Water (not an independent corporation at that time) to connect the residents of Point Road and Pacific Highway to the Sydney Water supply. The contract to the Department of Public Works from Gosford Council was finalised in October 1971 (contract number 3006970) and a loan was approved to the residents of Mooney Mooney, to Gosford Council to pay for the connections from  the gravity based water tower. This loan was honoured by the Mooney Mooney residents connected to the Sydney Water Supply as a result, over a number of years.

The residents of Mooney Mooney have paid (via this community loan over a number of years) for the water connections to the Sydney Water supply. This infrastructure was not paid for by Gosford Council nor Sydney Water.

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Letter to IPART from Minister Frank Sartor identifying the inequity in pricing methodology between Brooklyn and Mooney Mooney prior to the final determination.

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Mains water leak on the Peats Ferry Bridge

Community Feed Back

Thank You for the information you provided and your time.

It seems an unfair and biased treatment of the MM and CP residents bases on an artificial boundary. The reasons for the upgrade in the sewerage system is based on environmental reasons and because up till now the residents have paid for their own onsite sewerage treatment and maintenance not the councils or state authorities. Using myself as an example I installed when building 14 years ago an enviro cycle treatment system that treats the water to a level cleaner then the Hawkesbury River and council requires a report on it every quarter. All this does not cost the state or council.

Of course there are older systems that need upgrading and the benefit will be the environment and Australia, and while the councils and state have not required to fund the individual properties sewerage, why are they now reluctant to use the same level of funding and cost base for the one project.

The way may be as you say to change the wording to include all Sydney water users. I would be willing to work towards this and wait for a change to the Sydney Water Act

Regards

Phillip Psaila -  Mooney Mooney 

I visited the Mooney Mooney Matters website.

Thanks for the effort and please let me know if I can assist in any way.

Regards,

Greg Groppenbacher

Point Road

Happy to help with any issue with the sewer debate  Issues that don't seem to have been covered are;

1) Gosford have been returning less than our rate payments to us for as long as can be remembered; If you want me to investigate a freedom of information request from the GCC Finance section it would help our argument, conversely if they don't have the figures it would also help our argument as it would indicate our lack of importance to them.

2) Has anyone considered a total refusal to pay the levy by all owners -politically embarrassing for all parties if we could achieve it.

3) Gosford's complete lack of initiative in making the current system work through effective regulation. I do not believe the new treatment plant can meet required discharge limits, therefore it will be a point-source discharge that is in total, more polluting than the current un-regulated 'system'. As an environmental scientist I feel the envisaged system is an engineers dream that will not be a true step forward. It will never meet discharge limits and may in fact be shut down after it is built - a white elephant. If it is allowed to operate it will be worse that the present diffuse discharge.

Regards

Ian Wilson

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The locals