About 70 people have attended a meeting to discuss Blackwood’s long-promised sewerage connection and to try to avoid the reputation of being the state’s “most well-serviced ghost town”.
At the Blackwood Hotel for the June 26 meeting were residents and representatives of Moorabool council and water authorities, including Central Highland Water (CHW) and Southern Rural Water.
“For a full decade now, we have been unable to build, rebuild or even extend our homes in this town,” Blackwood Action Group member Brendan Hehir said.
“Paradoxically, there’s been a lot of building in recent years, including a $1.4 million domestic water refuge and a $1.7 million fire refuge – a great vote of confidence in Blackwood. Meanwhile, actual residency is discouraged.”
Blackwood is home to 350 residents, who were told almost 10 years ago that state government funding had been set aside for sewerage connection.
A CHW spokeswoman said the project was stopped because the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) believed the expected nutrient levels of treated wastewater were too high for the receiving waters of Long Gully Creek and, subsequently, the Lerderderg River. “The EPA rejected the centralised sewerage system application,” she said. “Other solutions would add substantial costs and would not be practical.”
Mr Hehir said some residents had spent thousands on septic tanks and clearwater systems, while others were unable to build until a central sewerage system was connected. “It’s going to be a long slog but one we have to keep at,” he said. “We’ve been invited for the first time to speak with water catchment authorities Western Water and Melbourne Water and we’re going to keep pushing until we get a result.”
Late last year, CHW tested local surface waters and creeks to understand the environmental impact of septic tanks on the town.
In February this year, CHW confirmed a working group would meet to “evaluate the data collected and seek an appropriate waste-water solution”.
