A MAN who was caught on video hosing down his driveway has issued an apology for his actions, saying he deserves to be fined.
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The video went somewhat viral in Bathurst over the weekend, being viewed close to 25,000 times and outraging people on social media before it was deleted.
It prompted a warning to residents not to post videos or photos to social media of apparent water restrictions breaches, but rather refer their complaints to Bathurst Regional Council.
The man who appeared in the video said he was sorry and confirmed he has since spoken with council.
"I'm sorry. I watered the lawn at my home and my church. It was the wrong thing to do, I've spoken with the council this morning, and expect to cop a fine for both breaches," he said on Wednesday afternoon.
"Through my church, I work a lot to assist the community and, ironically I guess, even with water deployment systems for fireys [sic], and will have to do a lot more work now to build that goodwill back."
In his apology, the man said he has also written to the neighbour who filmed him to apologise for his actions and he hopes "we can put this behind us as neighbours".
He promised that he would change his watering behaviour in future.
"I did the wrong thing. I will cop the fines," he said.
"Unless we receive some very welcome rain, expect to see my lawns get as brown as everyone else's in the very near future. I really am very sorry."
Speaking to the Western Advocate, mayor Bobby Bourke said around three residents have been issued fines by council since the introduction of extreme water restrictions in mid October, 2019.
He said it was appropriate to fine people who were found to have continuously or seriously breached water restrictions, but council has a process it must follow before fines can be issued.
Residents posting videos to social media is not part of that process, particularly as people may not have all the facts.
"The judge is not social media. The council has rangers in place and procedures to follow and it's a lot of work," Cr Bourke said.
If people want to report someone they believe is ignoring Bathurst's water restrictions, they should call the hotline on 6333 1683 or send an email to waterrestrictions@bathurst.nsw.gov.au.
"I encourage people to continue to use that, but to vilify someone on social media is not the way to go," Cr Bourke said.
To find out more about the current level of water restrictions in Bathurst, including the potential penalties for breaches, visit council's website.
