BATHURST Regional Council will continue to offer free water to eligible landholders despite growing opposition from some councillors.
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Councillors voted at Wednesday night’s monthly meet to extend the offer to verified primary producers until May 5, but it was not a unanimous decision.
Deputy mayor Bobby Bourke and Councillor Alex Christian spoke against the plan, highlighting what they called the inconsistency between council offering free water to some ratepayers while subjecting the rest to Level 3 water restrictions.
Cr Bourke said he could not support extending the free water offer.
“I’m not comfortable with it because I don’t think a lot of ratepayers are comfortable with it,” he said.
“Just a few people are benefiting from this [free water] but what we’re doing with water restrictions is impacting a whole lot of people.”
Cr Christian accused some of his colleagues of wanting “to have their cake and eat it”.
“If we can put an entire city on water restriction how can we now say we’re going to give away free water?” Cr Christian said.
But Cr Jess Jennings, who first proposed the free water, said he was keen to see it extended.
“It’s not being utilised massively so from a financial point of view I don’t think there can be a concern but it is a genuine offer for people who could be in extreme hardship,” he said.
A report to Wednesday night’s meeting from corporate services and finance director Aaron Jones said just nine landholders had registered for the free water in the first three months of operation, and just $755 worth of water has been taken from the Hereford Street standpipes so far.
“As at the date of this report, 302 kilolitres of free water has been accessed under this scheme representing a minimal loss of income of $755,” the report by corporate services and finance director Aaron Jones says.
“There are currently nine people who have registered, however, very few of them have actually utilised their full allowable quota.”
