Bathurst council winds down its involvement in response to gas outage

After gas supplies were impacted on November 2 due to damage to the Young-Lithgow Pipeline, the council took an active role in responding to the crisis.

That role is not quite over, with mayor Robert Taylor saying that "council staff continue to provide limited support to the Emergency Operations Centre."

While the gas supplies were affected, council offered public showers across the city to assist people who had no hot water at home.

The facilities at Carrington Park and Hereford Street have been removed, with Cr Taylor saying that there was "a low take-up rate" while they were open.

Other council staff who were deployed to assist with the efforts to reconnect gas supplies have been able to return to their usual duties.

"The majority of council staff who were involved in responding to this incident have returned to their normal duties, with a small number of staff continuing to provide limited support and assistance to the EOC," Cr Taylor said.

"Staff were predominantly sourced from council's outdoor and depot teams together, with a couple of staff being redeployed from our indoor/office areas."

It is unknown what costs will be incurred as a result of council's response to the gas outage.

"As yet, the final costs of council's response to this incident are still being determined," Cr Taylor said.

Households in Oberon, Lithgow and Wallerawang continue to be impacted by the gas outage.

The Australian Pipeline Authority (APA) is working on a long-term solution, which lies in a horizontal directional drill, eight to 10 metres under the Macquarie River.

A permanent solution could be in place in the first week in December.

Temporary solutions are continuing to be implemented to provide gas to affected households and businesses.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: