TAMWORTH Regional Council could soon force developers to create more water efficient housing estates as the city grows.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The council's planning director Brent McAlister told the audience at the recent screening of climate change documentary 2040 the city currently had no guidelines in place when it came to water wise housing.
But as the council continues to map its way towards a population of 100,000 people by 2041, Mr McAlister signalled things would need to change en route.
READ MORE:
The council has considered and approved a number of new sub-divisions in recent months, particularly in the Moore Creek area.
It comes as a consultancy group recently highlighted Moore Creek, Hillvue and North Tamworth as the city's suburbs primed for the greatest growth in the coming decades.
While there might be plenty of development on the cards, Mr McAlister said they would have to be "water sensitive suburbs".
He said many councils already had regulations around these issue but there wasn't one in this region.
"Which is quite surprising for a city like Tamworth," he said.
"We are an upper-catchment city like Toowoomba, which is always going to be a dry city."
As part of the council's work on its 'blueprint 100' project, Mr McAlister suggested the council would formulate some water sensitive urban design policies.
"It's one gap I noticed when I came here," he said.
"Before these suburbs grow, they need to have less concrete and have more water conservation measures and bigger water tanks, otherwise we are going to end up in the same predicament we are in now.
"Concrete is not good, and if we don't have those guidelines in place, the developers will keep on building the the same old three bedroom houses with plenty of concrete."
The implementation of water sensitive urban design policies was one recommendation in the Namoi Unlimited joint council water for the future strategy.
The report, which was up for public feedback until July 30, found no local governments in the joint council region had such a policy in place.
"It has the potential to deliver more livable cities by providing green space ... and minimising the need for expensive infrastructure upgrades through reduced water demand," the report said.