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Bright’s off-stream water storage battle continues with meeting
Written by By ALEX BAIRD.
THE safety of towns during bushfires was a key issue raised at last Wednesday’s public meeting by the community group seeking to have Bright’s off-stream water storage reconsidered.
The group believes the Freeburgh site will rely on a series of pumps that will not be available on days of extreme fire danger.
But North East Water (NEW) managing director, Craig Heiner, said Freeburgh’s location closer to Bright was more adequate than the favored Stony Creek site near Harrietville.
"NEW has detailed emergency management plans in place to ensure we can continue to deliver secure supplies to our customers in emergency situations," he said.
"While NEW cannot guarantee supply during a bushfire, our back-up generators would be used to ensure the pumping of water to continue in the event of a power outage.
"Pumping and back-up power systems are required for both sites, however, it is preferable to have these systems located near and within Bright.
"Importantly, the proximity of the Freeburgh site to Bright is significant in the storage’s potential role as an aerial firefighting resource."
Since its axing by NEW in January, the group has consistently opposed NEW’s selected site at Freeburgh in favor of a site further up the valley at Stony Creek.
A petition challenging NEW’s choice of site has gathered more than 1200 signatures in the past two weeks, and will be submitted to the relevant bodies at the end of the month.
Last Wednesday their ambitious efforts to have the decision overturned took another positive step forward when 200 community members gathered at a public meeting.
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