The official opening of the upgraded Tathra Sewage Treatment Plant represents a major step forward in the Bega Valley Shire’s development according to Mayor David Hede. Cr Hede said the $4 million upgrade had delivered a key piece of infrastructure for Tathra, both as a township and a popular holiday destination, while at the same time achieving important environmental outcomes.
“And the exciting thing from Council’s perspective is that the Tathra upgrade is just the beginning of a program that will benefit literally thousands of people Shire wide,” Cr Hede said.
The upgrade was completed in November 2004 as part of the $60 million Bega Valley Sewerage Program, which will also see major sewage treatment plant upgrades in Bega, Tura Beach, Merimbula and Bermagui and the construction of new sewerage systems in the villages of Cobargo, Wolumla, Candelo, Kalaru and Wallaga Lake.
The capital works program – the largest in Bega Valley Shire’s history – is being delivered via a unique public/private partnership between Council and Tenix Alliance, with works scheduled to be completed in 2007. The partnership is believed to be the first of its kind in NSW and progress on the sewerage program is being watched with keen interest by other Local Government authorities interested in following a similar path.
Besides upgrading the existing sewage treatment plants and constructing the five new sewerage services, Tenix Alliance will also operate and maintain the new and existing treatment plants for a period of 10 years.
The opening of the upgraded plant at Tathra represented the project’s first major milestone since being launched by NSW Minister for Energy and Utilities, Frank Sartor, in October 2003. The State Government is providing almost $25 million towards the cost of the works through the Department of Energy, Utilities and Sustainability (DEUS), enabling it to be carried out sooner rather than later.
Cr Hede said that without State Government assistance the work would have been carried out over a much longer period of time and at a significantly greater cost to the local community.
The Bega Valley Sewerage Program has been in the pipeline for several years and will benefit existing residents as well as people moving to the Shire. Besides meeting the anticipated growth in demand for sewerage services for the next 20 years, Cr Hede said the program would also help Council meet its environmental obligations while at the same time helping to safeguard public health.
He said there had been a particular focus on the use of new technology with the preferred options for the new systems in Candelo, Cobargo, Kalaru and Wolumla to include a pressure collection system and state of the art membrane bioreactor treatment plants.
“Tenix Alliance has refined this technology and its application will be of great benefit to the Bega Valley Shire, enabling the plants to produce high quality disinfected effluent, which can be released into local waterways or used for irrigation and stock watering,” Cr Hede said.
