Anti-borefield campaigners are still confused about the State Government’s plans for the Kangaloon borefield, despite NSW Water Minister Nathan Rees’s assurances that there is nothing to be confused about.
Mr Rees this week responded to the Southern Highland News report about contradictory information sent to Kangaloon landholders by Kiama MP Matt Brown and the Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA).
Kangaloon farmers received letters from Mr Brown stating that “harvesting from aquifers will not go ahead”, after Mr Rees announced that construction of the aquifer had been “shelved”.
At the same time, the SCA notified landowners of plans to construct 15 new test bores in the coming months.
In a letter to the News (see page 6), Mr Rees said his June 18 news release made it clear that development at Kangaloon would stop at the point where land acquisitions, planning approval and tender design were complete.
“There is no confusion and no contradiction,” he said. “The Sydney Catchment Authority made it quite clear that the sinking of ‘test’ bores was part of the ‘planning approval and tender design’ process, not the overall construction process.”
But Save Water Alliance (SWA) spokesman David Thompson said the SCA letter distributed to Kangaloon residents on June 18 said no such thing.
“There is no reference at all in the Catchment Authority letter to planning approval and tender design,” he said.
For the full story see the Southern Highland News, Wednesday, July 2
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