With securing our region's water supply being one of our community's top priorities, I will be attending the Murray Darling Association's 79th National Conference in Murray Bridge from 25 to 28 September along with Council's Director of Water and Waste, Bruce Logan.
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I will be putting forward one of the three motions on behalf of Region 11 of the Murray Darling Association which encompasses the local government areas of Tamworth, Gunnedah, Tenterfield, Liverpool Plains and Gwydir.
The motion is: "That the Murray Darling Association calls on the NSW Government to commit further funding of $250 million per annum for safe and secure water programs, in particular safe and secure water for critical human needs and food and fibre production."
You may not be aware but the NSW Safe and Secure Water Program started in 2017 with a $1 billion funding commitment for Regional Infrastructure by the then NSW Coalition Government.
The funding was a commitment of $200 Million each year that was made available to local government in regional NSW for the co-funding of eligible water and sewer projects to improve public health, water secure, environmental outcomes and/or social benefits.
However, funding for this program will soon come to an end and a commitment from the newly-elected NSW Government is being sought through to 2027.
We and other councils know firsthand how the NSW Safe and Secure Water program has become a critical funding program for regional, rural and remote communities to supplement the limited funds available within Local Government to provide the critical water infrastructure upgrades to ensure the needs of our growing communities are met.
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In recent years regional NSW has seen significant increase in population due to migration from metropolitan and outer metropolitan centres, and additionally a significant increase in immigration allowance by the Federal Government.
The financial constraints on local government across NSW has never been greater than today and without the ongoing financial support from the NSW Government, Regional NSW will not be in the position to take advantage of the growth opportunities and that in turn will have a negative impact on the state of NSW.
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