TasWater is happy to confirm it will extend water supply to the Derwent Valley towns of Bushy Park and Glenora with more than 80 per cent of property owners in the area agreeing to sign up and connect to service.
TasWater formally proposed the schemes as an extension of its plan to upgrade the water supply at Gretna, providing fully treated water to all three towns.
A further incentive to introduce the new water system developed after Hop Growers Australia announced a plan to no longer supply water from its irrigation network, a source of untreated water many property owners in the area had been using for many years.
For TasWater to go ahead with the water scheme, at least 80 per cent of property owners have to agree to sign up for the service. This is a requirement set down by the Office of the Economic Regulator.
This target was reached just last week and now the new water service can go ahead in Bushy Park and Glenora.
The Derwent Valley Council has previously committed $500,000 to the project in the form of a long term loan to TasWater, enabling us to waive the usual service introduction fee.
TasWater CEO Michael Brewster says he is very pleased to be able to confirm the expansion of water service to the area and residents will now be able to tap into a fully treated water system which will meet Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
With the introduction of water, Bushy Park and Glenora will now be defined as being in a TasWater service area. Under state government legislation, this means all properties including vacant land will be billed for a fixed water service charge whether they take up the option to connect or not.
“It’s estimated with the fixed service charge water usage and a payment programme over four years to cover connection charges, new TasWater customers should be paying around $246 dollars a quarter.
“Anyone who hasn’t signed up can still do so but to take advantage of discounted connection fees, contracts must be completed by 1 November.
“While community support for water in Bushy Park and Glenora has been strong, the same is not the case for Macquarie Plains.”
“Support for TasWater extending the supply to Macquarie Plains fell well short of the required
80 per cent with just 22 per cent of the community indicating a willingness to join. “
TasWater will soon contact residents over plans to install meters and construction of the
reticulation network and pipelines will start in January with commissioning of the network
expected to take place around the middle of 2017.
TasWater
