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Mayor's Message - 10 April 2025 - Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick

Each fortnight, Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick shares his insights on his community conversations, ongoing project progress, events and activities. Stay connected and collaborate to share the future of our community.

Russell Fitzpatrick, Mayor of Bega Valley Shire.

Authorised by Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick

10 April 2025

I was honoured to open the new Bega Water Treatment Plant—a project making a real difference to around 8,000 residents in the Bega/Kalaru/Tathra area. This state-of-the-art facility ensures safe, clean drinking water for the future.

This project has been years in the making and was made possible by our Council team and contractor Laurie Curran Water. Their expertise, hard work and use of local contractors have  delivered something that will serve this community for generations.

The Plant supplies up to 9.5 megalitres of filtered water daily, resolving past water quality issues.  It’s also built with sustainability in mind, with 300-kilowatt solar panels cutting our energy use and making it one of the most environmentally friendly water treatment systems in the state.

This is a major win that benefits our community and demonstrates the potential of a shared vision coming together.

This was made possible thanks to the $15.2 million investment from the NSW Government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water through the Safe and Secure Water Program, and $5.6 million from Bega Valley Shire Council. This has provided us with a top-notch treatment and filtration plant, and a new operations centre that brings all our water and sewer services under one roof.

The Draft Affordable Housing Contribution Scheme is currently on public exhibition and I encourage everyone to visit Council’s website to read the full document and frequently asked questions.

I will continue to call out all candidates and their parties around the Financial Assistance Grants where regional councils now only receive 0.52% of federal tax revenue down from 1% between 1993 to 2013. This reduction means a loss of income for Council of approximately $9.5 million per year. The good thing about these grants are they are flexible, allowing councils free to use the funds how the community wishes. It would be great to increase our road funding if the grants were returned to 1%. If you’d like to provide any feedback, please send me an email to RFitzpatrick@begavalley.nsw.gov.au Thank you for reading and have a great weekend.

 

 

© Bega Valley Shire Council 2025

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