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Wales want water corporation

 

Independent candidate for Gosford Ms Debra Wales has confirmed that her major commitment to the Gosford electorate will be to establish a Central Coast Water Corporation if elected on March 24.

"It is imperative that the State Government take the management of water and sewerage services out of the hands of councillors and into the hands of an experienced board of directors established under a corporation structure," Ms Wales said.

"After 30 years of failure to prepare the Central Coast against drought, it is time that our precious water was managed by commercially successful directors of a corporation similar to that of the Hunter Water Corporation.

"The Hunter region is not under water restrictions because it has 75 per cent water storage.

"The region has successfully managed its water by drawing on three main water sources which is not dissimilar to the Central Coast.

"Yet our region is in crisis.

"The NSW government would set standards of customer service under an operating licence with the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal setting pricing.

"The Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Environment & Conservation would license the Corporation's wastewater systems and the Department of Health would play a very important role in setting the standards of monitoring quality as its does with the Hunter Water Corporation."

Ms Wales said that while the council's staff were hardworking and highly qualified, the problem "has always been" that all decisions were debated by Gosford and Wyong Councils with neither of them agreeing to build vital infrastructure "such as the pump station on the Upper Wyong River".

"It was an unforeseen disaster when the water in the Mangrove Dam was released for the pipeline to be constructed in the early 1990's," Ms Wales said.

"However, council subsequently failed to the build the pump station and therefore, the dam levels never recovered.

"The decision not to build the pump station was made by councillors against management's recommendations".

"Establishing the Central Coast Corporation would ensure that our precious water is competently managed so that we can plan for the future.

"But more importantly, it will take the political agenda out of our water and ensure that the infrastructure is built."

Press release, 19 Feb 2007 Debra Wales, Independent candidate for Gosford