Council seeks funds for Cockle Bay sewerage

The provision of improved sewerage services to residents of Empire Bay is one step closer, with Gosford Council lobbying the NSW State Government to reduce costs for property owners within the designated service area.

Cockle Bay Towns has been identified under the State Government's Priority Sewerage Program to improve sewerage services where on-site systems pose environmental and public health risks.

Finalisation of the Cockle Bay Towns servicing strategy had been held over since December 2011 awaiting a further investigation of larger properties within the service area and an investigation into increased Government funding towards the project.

A broad-scale investigation of properties in the Cockle Bay Towns service area was carried out as described in the report to Council of June 5 last year.

The investigation aimed to identify properties expected to be capable of sustaining on-site sewage management considering recent developments in the industry since the release of the 1998 Environment and Health Protection Guidelines, On-site Sewage Management for Single Households.

Initially, a risk profile was determined for each lot in the study area to guide system selection and constraint decisions.

One third of the study area was classified as either highly or very highly constrained.

These properties were located in Empire Bay Dr, Humphreys Rd, Nyeena Ave, Calool St, Bundaleer Cres, Allawa Close, Palmers Lane, Pomona Rd and Awinya Close.

More than half of the study area was classified as moderately constrained.

A land capability assessment was then undertaken to identify the proportion of open space available for effluent management given allowances for typical site improvements, vegetation and setbacks for the selected on-site system.

The results of the analysis were used to determine the serviceability of properties by on-site sewage management.

One-third of properties were found to be marginal or unable to manage sewage on-site.

Consequently, there was potential for two-thirds of properties in the study area to adequately manage their sewage on-site if appropriate systems were selected, installed and maintained.

Due to the age of systems in the area, many of the existing systems would need to be upgraded to achieve this, at considerable cost to individual property owners.

The cost of these upgrades may be in the order of $20,000 for some properties, with an ongoing need to renew or replace systems at approximately 15 year intervals.

Therefore, according to the report by Council's director water and sewer Mr Rod Williams, the allocation of state government funding to the project is a key consideration in determining the most efficient servicing strategy for the area.

The level of funding for the project will determine, for the properties that are classified as serviceable by on-site sewage management, whether it is more cost-effective to provide a network sewerage service to these properties or whether they should be excluded from the proposed sewerage scheme and continue to operate on-site systems, upgraded as necessary.

Property owners will have the opportunity to discuss the project with council staff at an upcoming open day.

Gosford Council Agenda WAT.17, 29 May 2013