Refresh Vaucluse and Diamond Bay project: Wentworth MP Allegra Spender joins community group’s call for independent environmental assessment

Wentworth MP Allegra Spender has put her weight behind a community campaign to protect an eastern suburbs harbourside reserve set to be the site of crucial sewage infrastructure.

Wentworth MP Allegra Spender has announced she would meet with water minister Rose Jackson to discuss the planned sewage pump at Parsley Bay.

Wentworth MP Allegra Spender has put her weight behind a community campaign to protect an eastern suburbs harbourside reserve set to be the site of crucial sewage infrastructure.

Ms Spender shared on her social media the NSW Government had agreed to undertake an independent environmental assessment of the impact the planned sewage pump would have on the surrounding bushland and harbour beach at Parsley Bay.

The federal MP said she would meet with Water Minister Rose Jackson along with Sydney Water; the government agency behind the project, in coming weeks to advocate for the protection of the natural environment.

The $85m project to construct pumping stations to stop raw sewage flowing into the harbour at Dover Heights, Vaucluse and Diamond Bay has been on the state government’s agenda since 2018.

The Refresh Vaucluse and Diamond Bay project is set to divert the sewage which currently spews untreated into the ocean from the state’s three last remaining outfalls to the Bondi Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Parsley Bay, Vaucluse has been selected as one of two sites for new sewage infrastructure to address problematic sewage outflow. Picture: John Grainger.

Artist impression of the proposed design for a new amenities block at Parsley Bay. The old block will be replaced by a pump station. Picture: Woollahra Council.

The project – set to stop as much as four million litres of raw sewage released daily into the ocean between Bondi Beach and South Head – will see two sewage pump stations constructed at Eastern Ave Reserve and Parsley Bay Reserve as well as 3km of new wastewater pipelines and an upgrade of existing infrastructure.

However concerns around protections for the unique wildlife at the pristine reserve have been growing as Sydney Water geared up to begin construction.

Community group Save Parsley Bay has campaigned for the independent review – backed by the National Parks Association of NSW – which it said would provide greater transparency on the impact construction and the underground pump station would have on the harbour ecosystem.

Ms Spender’s post stated she would also push the state government for more clarity on why the Parsley Bay site had been selected over other sites for the sewage pump project.

“Community advocacy on Parsley Bay is paying off,” the post read.

“Thank you to everyone in the community who has been working hard to get this result.”