Call for ongoing pipeline financial support

Mayor Turley has called on the NSW Government to ensure that the cost of the new Wentworth to Broken Hill pipeline is never passed on to residents.

Mayor Turley and her fellow Councillors have long held concerns about the long term financial impact of the pipeline, and in July 2017 called for a moratorium on the project due to a lack of transparency around the project’s finances.

Last week the NSW Government moved to allay immediate concerns around rises in water prices by announcing it would absorb the cost of the pipeline's, construction, operation and maintenance for the next four years.

However Mayor Turley yesterday sent a letter to NSW Minister for Regional Water, Niall Blair, urging the Government to provide ongoing financial support for the pipeline's operation and maintenance.

"While we absolutely welcome the NSW Government's plan to cover costs for the next four years, our concerns remain around the long term impact this project could have on residents," she said.

"Broken Hill residents face a number of challenges on a daily basis as an isolated and low socio-economic community, and I would hate to see higher water prices added to the list of things with which we must contend.

"In fact as a community we can't even begin to plan or prepare for the costs that could be passed on at the end of this four year period as we still haven't received the business case that underpins the pipeline's construction.

"Given these factors, I believe it is prudent for the NSW Government to permanently remove the pipeline’s construction, operation and maintenance and associated costs from any future IPART determinations."