State Member for Barwon, Roy Butler and Cobar Shire Mayor, Jarrod Marsden have called for better communication, greater clarity and cost recovery (who pays) information from the NSW Government on the costing of the Nyngan to Cobar water pipeline project.
Mr Butler said this follows the release and publication of a summary document which falls critically short of the level of engagement, respect and actual planning process that would be normal for discussion on a piece of infrastructure that is shared by the community, mining and agriculture sectors.
“The relevant government agency is revealed as simply throwing its hands in the air and saying they’re unable to progress with time critical water infrastructure.
“We live in an arid environment; water is a critical human need and mining is a tough financial environment,” Mr Butler said
“We don’t need to send mine managers and investors signals that there is any uncertainty in their capacity to operate their sites on a 24/7 basis.”
Mr Butler has requested the Government engages with the Cobar Water Board.
“At no point have I asked for a generalised document that is published on a website for all to see, we need to deal in detail,” Mr Bulter said.
Cr Marsden said decisions made by government on critical infrastructure such as Cobar’s water pipeline need to be made with accurate information.
“We need to be able to look over the data so that clarity can be gained on what drives a $300+ million dollar price tag and a 38 month construction period because, from the outside looking in these numbers are simply not real in any sense,” Cr Marsden said.
“The government need to shift from a “design and construct” model that incorporates massive contingencies, to one whereby up front engineering and design is carried out and a bankable project costing can be put to treasury.
“And with this project the design already exists,” he said. “Public works have done the design work.”
