THE $15 million upgrade of a small town's water supply has been moving very slowly as the council pores over literally of hundreds of pages of designs before going to tender.
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Manilla-based Tamworth councillor Jim Maxwell said he has copped "a hell of a bashing" from the community who are demanding to know hat's been done since the upgrade was announced in July, last year.
The state government chipped in $3.75 million for the project in last year's state budget.
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At an combined announcement with Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson and Tamworth Regional Council last July, Cr Maxwell expected a successful tenderer to be named by the end of the year, with an 18 month construction time.
At a recent council meeting, he said folks in Manilla had been asking when work would get under way.
The council's water director Bruce Logan said there had been a number of factors to contend with, but a lot of work was happening behind the scenes.
Mr Logan said the NSW government's money didn't come online until late last year and the design process had been very thorough.
"There are 850 sheets of plans we have to review," he said
"We have to ensure that they are accurate; if we release to tender and there's any errors it opens it up for variations.
"It is very technically involved, but we hope to go out to tender in May."
Eventually, the council will tear down the old treatment plant in Manilla which was built in 1933.
The new plant will be capable of treating 3.5 megalitres per day, with the project also including a new pump station and intake works at the Manilla River, as well as an upgrade to the intake on the Namoi River and new pipelines to both.
The new state-of-the-art facility is set to be built on a nearby vacant 34 hectare property.
The dual filtration system will allow the station to operate out of either source, or combine them.
Jacob McArthur
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
