[Greens-Media] Tillegra now for Central Coast according to confused Planning Minister

[John Kaye]

Tillegra now for Central Coast according to confused Planning Minister
 
Media release: Saturday 4 September 2010
 
NSW Planning Minister Tony Kelly told parliament on two occasions this
week that Tillegra Dam was being developed to secure water supplies for
the Central Coast as well as the Lower Hunter, according to Greens NSW
MP John Kaye. (‘Backflip: Tillegra dam will supply Central Coast’
Newcastle Herald 4 September 2011 http://bit.ly/nh100904)
 
Dr Kaye said: "Either NSW Planning Minister Tony Kelly is deeply
ignorant of the highly controversial project that he will be assessing
in the near future, or there is something the Keneally government has
not told us.
 
"Either way it is yet another example of the profoundly muddled case
for Tillegra Dam. 
 
"It is clear that neither the Hunter nor the Central Coast need this
project to secure their water supplies yet the government persists with
the application without really knowing what it is for.
 
"Hunter residents should not have to pay for water supply
infrastructure for the Central Coast. If the Keneally government wants
to make this a project for Wyong and Gosford shires, then they should
start again with a new pricing arrangement and a new environmental
report.
 
"While Hunter households are on the brink of being forced to bear the
costs of a $477 million dam they don't need, Planning Minister Tony
Kelly who is the final consent authority is confused as to where the
water will be used.
 
"The Keneally government wants to rip almost half a billion dollars out
of the Hunter's economy without knowing why they are doing it. They must
stop before it is too late and ask both the community and experts how to
proceed.
 
"Without an independent inquiry into the future water needs of the
Lower Hunter, there is a real risk that the wetlands will be destroyed,
the economy damaged and household water bills inflated for no sensible
reason.
 
"Planning Minister Tony Kelly has provided an exceptional good
illustration of the need for the project to be put on hold while an
independent inquiry sorts out exactly what are the future water needs of
Newcastle and the lower Hunter," Dr Kaye said.
 
For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455 
 
 
----------------------------------
John Kaye
Greens member of the NSW Parliament
phone: (02) 9230 2668
fax: (02) 9230 2586
mobile: 0407 195 455
email: john.kaye at parliament.nsw.gov.au
web: www.johnkaye.org.au
 
mail: Parliament House, Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000