Residents anxious over holiday park sewage upgrade

Brooms Head residents have begun airing multiple concerns on social media about a proposed sewage management system upgrade.

Brooms Head, NSW Photo: Gabriel Sq

A Clarence Valley Council staff member has responded to concerns stemming from a proposed replacement on-site sewage management system as part of the Brooms Head Holiday Park upgrade.

After receiving a letter from council in early May about the proposal, Brooms Head residents have begun airing multiple concerns on social media including potential environmental damage to local sand dunes.

According to the letter, the only viable option for the area is to install a Package Treatment Plant located across the road from Brooms Head beach, along with a commercial underground wastewater system installed adjacent to the Brooms Head Library.

There has been talk in recent weeks by residents that a potential 160,000 litres of treated sewage wastewater could be pumped per day into a sand dune.

“How can this be allowed!?” one resident posted on social media.

“It is a sand dune and residents in the houses and caravan park will be severely affected.”

The proposed Brooms Head Holiday Park on site sewage management system will be located just a stone’s throw from the beach.

After the Daily Examiner reached out to Clarence Valley Council about this matter, manager of Open Spaces and Facilities Peter Birch addressed some of these concerns.

“Council has undertaken a risk management process over the past four years, the process looked at numerous sites over that time undertaking many studies,” he said.

“During the process all other sites which had the capacity to take a large amount of water, were ruled out due to a range of issues. These issues include saturated water tables, environmental protection zones, proximity to waterways, proximity to the beach and land which may not be owned by the crown in the future.”

Mr Birch said that while the pumping system has been sized at 160kL, there is no intention to use the system at its maximum capacity.

“Most of the year the current amount of treated wastewater produced is between 20 and 40 kL a day. During peak periods such as Christmas, September School Holidays and Easter the treated wastewater spikes due to the influx of visitors,” he said.

“Monitoring data shows a maximum wastewater generation of 113.3kL/day on January 3, 2018. The treatment system needs to allow for future infrastructure of sullage to each tourist site which needs to be installed throughout the park. Hydraulic modelling has estimated maximum loads of 143.4KL a day with the additional infrastructure.”

As for the potential for subsidence or erosion, Mr Birch said that the area will be structurally assessed prior to any works being undertaken.

“Initial talks and investigation by a structural engineer and a geologist do not flag any significant problems with the loads in this area and potential subsidence,” he said.

“The structural engineer will also conduct testing and further investigation to confirm the suitability and suggest any mitigation measures that will be required to stabilise the area further.

“Council also intends on increasing the vegetation to stabilise the area further and absorb some of the wastewater.”

It’s understood that works for the new sewage system will be completed by October, 2021.