Cobar’s old water filtration plant on Fort Bourke Hill could be used to treat mine wastewater, be turned into a museum or developed as a look-out café with a fantastic view.
These are some of the options that will be put to Cobar Shire Councillors for discussion about what to do with the old plant at tomorrow’s Ordinary Council Meeting.
The water treatment plant was constructed in 1964 and was used up until 2018 when the new plant was built.
Cobar Shire recently approached NSW Public Works to provide a report on options of what to do with the old plant.
While the building is nearly 60 years old, it does have an expected design life of 80-100 years.
According to the NSW Public Works report, a building structure inspection in 2020 found the building to “generally be in good condition” but made some recommendations for minor repairs to ensure the ongoing safety and structural stability of the building.
The NSW Public Works report offered council five options of what could be done with the old building including: 1 Doing nothing; 2 Keeping the building and doing minor remedial work; 3 Demolishing it; 4 and 5 Reusing it for treating mine wastewater or as a business venture such as café or museum.
In his report to Council, Water & Sewer Manager Victor Papierniak recommended Option 2 which is to keep the building and undertake remedial works at an estimated cost of $100,000.
Mr Papierniak also recommends council include an additional $5,000 per annum in their budget for ongoing monitoring and maintenance.
Mr Papierniak said Option 1 of doing nothing was not considered viable due to potential safety and operational risks.
He reported the demolition option would incur large capital costs (and the telecommunications network would need to be relocated).
Mr Papierniak suggested while the reuse options were potentially suitable, they would however require third party interest or a business plan which currently does not have any backing.
He said they could however still be considered in the future.
