Walcha council general manager Jack O’Hara has welcomed news of the appointment of Federal Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce to chair a new ministerial working group set up to identify new infrastructure projects.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Joyce said his appointment could have direct benefits to the electorate and possibly Walcha.
Mr Joyce said the Prime Minister Tony Abbott had tasked him to identify opportunities that can deliver Australia’s water supply needs in the future.
“There is a compendium of more than 100 possible dam sites available to the group and one of those sites is the Apsley River dam that Neville Wran closed down early in its construction,” he said.
Work was stopped on the dam in July 1983 even though the Apsley project was identified by the then Electricity Commission to serve a number of functions. Also on board as a supporter of the Apsley project was the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation which revealed in its summary of the project (that it based, on engineering feasibility, cost and broad environmental considerations) the project’s components were the most economic schemes to provide water supply to the Namoi River Valley.
Mr Joyce said water infrastructure had to keep pace with economic opportunities in Australia’s regions and with national population growth.
“Australia’s population is expected to reach 35 million by 2050 and we also have to take advantage of the growing wealth of hundreds of millions of people who live close by,” he said.
The group’s water infrastructure options paper will be developed by July 2014.
“Council applauds the appointment of Mr Joyce to this committee and any investment in infrastructure that could drought proof Walcha would be welcomed with open arms,” Mr O’Hara said.
