Peel River weir supported by Tamworth Regional Council to improve city's liveability as councillors request further report to clear river

Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) will look into the steps it needs to take to clear the Peel River near the CBD, despite a $50,000 feasibility study that showed it wouldn't improve the town water supply.

The concept is about improving the amenity of the city and providing a recreational area that families can enjoy, Cr Russell Webb said.

"Unlike other regional cities like Dubbo or Wagga, we do not have a nice body of water in the centre or close to our CBD," he said.

"I do know this will be a very difficult path to go down because there will be legislation to sift through just to clean out the river.

"If we don't have a crack at it, it won't happen ... why can't we make our city a better place?"

The feasibility study issued to councillors before their bi-monthly meeting on Tuesday night showed a weir could cost up to $11 million to construct.

It would be empty within just days in the case of a drought even if demand fell to 20 megalitres per day or less.

There will be a number of hurdles and stumbling blocks ahead just to clear out the river, with stringent processes required from the Department of Primary Industries and Environment (DPIE).

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Cr Phil Betts said he understood clearing the river would be a difficult process.

"The issues we are going to have to face, because I've done a fair bit of research on this, but the government agencies that put issues in front of us are going to make it very difficult," he said.

"We need to make sure that it's going to be achievable."

TRC councillors voted not to press ahead with the weir immediately on Tuesday night. Instead, they asked for a further report on what actions need to be taken to support clearing the river to construct a weir.

Mayor Col Murray said a lack of current project funding for the project "shouldn't be an impediment to at least do the planning."

DPIE declined to comment.

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