Not too late to abandon Tillegra

Commenting on a story in today’s Newcastle Herald (‘Fly over Tillegra dam’),  Dr Kaye said: “Water Minister Phil Costa gleefully announced that Tillegra has passed another milestone with the release of the concept plan.

“What he is not telling the residents of the Lower Hunter is that they are about to be forced to pay $406 million or more for a project that has no use.

“Neither the Minister nor the Hunter Water Corporation can point to one good reason why the dam should be built.

“They are forced to rely on absurd levels of drought proofing and wildly inaccurate estimates of the impacts of climate change to suggest that there might be shortage of water in Newcastle in the future.

“With the science mostly pointing to increased rainfall and runoff and new water saving technologies coming on stream, Tillegra is headed towards being the next Rees government white elephant.

“In the long run water bills for Newcastle residents will jump by an average of 35.6 per cent to pay for this folly if the project comes in on budget.

“Given the track record of the Rees government’s infrastructure projects, the financial pain felt by Lower Hunter households is likely to be far greater.

“It is not too late for common sense to take hold and the Rees government to walk away from this project.

“The people of the Hunter and the Greens would welcome a face-saving admission from the government that the time is not right for Tillegra.

“Destroying more than 90 productive farms, devastating the Williams River and bloating water bills are a terrible price to pay for a dam that has no purpose,” Dr Kaye said.

The Newcastle Herald story can be found at:

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/fly-over-tillegra-dam/1463199.aspx#