Minutes of Extraordinary Water and Sewer Advisory Committee Meeting

BYRON SHIRE COUNCIL

Minutes

Minutes of the Extraordinary Water and Sewer Advisory Committee Meeting held on Friday, 19 July 2024

File No: I2024/1042

PRESENT:

Councillors:	Cr C Coorey	Present
	Cr M Lyon	Present
	Cr S Ndiaye	Present
	Cr D Dey	Present
	Cr A Pugh	Present
Staff:	Phil Holloway (Acting General Manager)	Present
	Cameron Clark (Manager Utilities)	Present
	Annie Lewis (Media Communications Coordinator)	Present
	Chloe Woods (Minute taker)	Present
Community	Elia Hauge	Present
	David Fligelman	Apology
	Ben Fawcett	Present
	Bruce Clarke	Present
Visitors	Peter Trute	Present

Cr Sarah Ndiaye (Chair) opened the meeting at 10:13am and acknowledged that the meeting was being held on Bundjalung Country.

Attendance via AUDIO-VISUAL LINK:

Cr Arsen Pugh attended via Audio-Visual Link.

Apologies:

Apologies were received from David Fligelman.

Declarations of Interest – Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary

Ben Fawcett declared non-pecuniary interest in Report No. 4.1. The nature of the interest being that Ben Fawcett’s residence is less than 1km from Lavertys Gap Weir and 500m from the water treatment plant. Ben Fawcett elected to remain in the Meeting and will participate in discussion and the vote.

Elia Hauge declared a pecuniary/non-pecuniary interest in Report No. 4.1. The nature of the interest being that In Elia’s role as an engineer at Greg Alderson Associates, Elia is working on a project for NSW Public Works that involves remediation design for a Rous Water pipeline. Elia Hauge elected to remain in the Meeting and will participate in discussion and the vote.

Adoption of Minutes from Previous Meetings

Report No. 3.1 Adoption of Minutes from Previous Meetings

File No: I2024/984

Committee Recommendation:

That the minutes of the Water and Sewer Advisory Committee Meeting held on 30 May 2024 be confirmed. (Fawcett/Clarke)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Staff Reports - Infrastructure Services

Cr Ndiaye left the meeting at 11:04am and returned at 11:05 am.

Report No. 4.1 Mullumbimby Water Supply Strategy
Public Consultation Report

File No: I2024/1032

Committee Recommendation:

That Council:

1. Publicly thanks the community for its participation in making more than 433 Your-Say submissions during June 2024 on Mullumbimby's future water supply;

2. Acknowledges that 89% of 411 valid Your-Say respondents oppose abandoning the Wilsons Creek source (Lavertys Gap), while 6% are neutral and 5% support;

3. Notes that Hydrosphere's report "Mullumbimby Water Supply Strategy" of December 2021 does not investigate Option 2 (adding off-stream storage and retaining the Wilsons Creek source) to the extent suggested in Council's Resolution 23-120 and that it assesses Option 3 (Rous only) without Dunoon Dam which is now included in Rous's forward water source planning;

4. Notes the following extract from the North Coast Enabling Regional Adaptation, North Coast Region Report (NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, 2019) which states on page 15:

“Under a transformed system for infrastructure [,] water systems are smaller, localised and decentralised with multiple redundancies providing tailored and integrated solutions”

5. Proceeds with the investigations previously outlined in Parts 7 and 8 of Resolution 23-120 with some additions in 8b and 8c, namely:

7. Investigates a strategy for Mullumbimby’s long term water supply based on the following concept:

a) Lavertys Gap as the source during flows in excess of environmental requirements;

b) water stored off-stream between the source and Mullumbimby;

c) water treated at a new location between the storage and Mullumbimby;

d) water delivered to Mullumbimby and possibly beyond; and

e) maximising demand management, including the harvesting of roof water.

8. Includes in this investigation:

a) the topography of the terrain between Lavertys Gap and Mullumbimby, to identify potential dam sites;

b) the hydrology of Wilsons Creek and its capacity to supply, including

(i) seasonality,

(ii) establishing environmental flows for future EPA licensing;

c) the impact of climate change on supply and on demand (using up-to-date CC data and methodologies in the pilot phase for local water supply through DPE, and applied in Regional Water Strategies);

d) infrastructure needs including offtake, storage, treatment and linkages to the town’s reservoirs;

e) environmental assessments for the creation and operation of that infrastructure, including greenhouse gas emissions;

f) assessment of the weir at Lavertys Gap including

(i) structural integrity;

(ii) means of creating fish passage; and

(iii) how this proposal enhances its heritage and preservation; and

g) economic assessment;

6. Notes the successful upgrade to Kyogle’s water supply which included off stream storage and creation of fish passage on the existing weir in the Richmond River.

7. Supports Council consulting with landowners of properties currently supplied from the pressure line between the Water Treatment Plant at Lavertys Gap and the reservoir near Azalea Street, by

a. Listening to their wishes, and

b. Considering outcomes including a reticulation pipeline returning from Azalea Street reservoir to those properties. (Dey/Clarke)

Cr Coorey and Cameron Clark left the meeting at 11:29am and did not return.

The recommendation (Dey/Clarke) was put to the vote and declared carried.

Cr Lyon voted against the motion.

Cr Coorey was not present for the vote.

There being no further business the meeting concluded at 12:43pm.

Venue	Conference Room, Station Street, Mullumbimby
Date	Friday, 19 July 2024
Time	10:00 AM