Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson has called for the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) to hold a public hearing in Tamworth as part of the review into prices for WaterNSW’s Rural Bulk Water Services.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Anderson said only two regional hearings have been scheduled and neither of them are located in the Peel Valley where water users pay the highest prices in the state.
“It is outrageous to think that when conducting public hearings into rural water pricing, there are only two hearings being held in rural areas,” he said.
“Water users in the Peel Valley pay a significant amount of the cost to maintain Chaffey Dam yet are only allowed to use 5 per cent of the water with 95 per cent of the water flowing through the Peel River system and into the Namoi Valley.”
IPART will hold three public forums in Moree, Sydney and Coleambally from late October to mid-November.
“There is pain and frustration amongst our local water users and they want their voices to be heard,” Mr Anderson said.
“I am fighting hard for a fair go for local water users in the Peel Valley and I know that IPART would get a huge benefit from coming to our local region and hearing from the people that are most hard done by through inequitable pricing structures.
“We’ve previously had a hearing from the ACCC and I feel that local water users had their voices heard, all I’m asking is for IPART to show that same courtesy so that we can find a solution.”
