Clarence City Council to vote on plan to pump recycled water from Blackmans Bay to South Arm

UPDATED: A pipeline to pump recycled water from Blackmans Bay to a South Arm development is set to go ahead.

Aboriginal Heritage community member Rocky Sainty and South Arm resident Robyn McNicol at the site of a proposed golf course at Arm End recreational reserve. PICTURE: MATT THOMPSON

UPDATED: A PIPELINE to pump recycled water from Blackmans Bay to a South Arm development is set to go ahead after getting the nod from Clarence City Council.

Council voted in favour of the pipe 8-3.

The 6.8km, $3.5 million pipe will be built by the developers of the 116ha Arm End recreational reserve and golf course.

The pipe will connect Class B recycled water from TasWater’s Blackmans Bay treatment plant across the River Derwent to irrigate South Arm farms and properties and the Arm End public recreation reserve.

The proposal has received 83 representations with concerns including lack of detail, noise and environmental impact.

The Arm End development has come up against staunch opposition from some local residents and Aboriginal groups.

Arm End has signed an MOU with TasWater to build the pipe. The golf course is scheduled to open in 2020-21.

EARLIER: CLARENCE City Council has recommended that a plan to pump recycled water from Blackmans Bay under the River Derwent to the South Arm Peninsula be approved.

The council will tonight consider the 6.8km, $3.5 million pipe being proposed by the developers of the 116ha Arm End recreational reserve and golf course which has come up against staunch opposition from some local residents and Aboriginal groups.

The pipe will connect Class B recycled water from TasWater’s Blackmans Bay treatment plant across the River Derwent to irrigate South Arm farms and properties and the Arm End public recreation reserve.

The proposal has received 83 representations with concerns including but not limited to: lack of construction detail, noise, the negative effect of flora and fauna, and the misuse of Class B water inadvertently being used on edible crops.

There was one submission expressing support for the project because of the “perceived wider benefit to local residents such as firefighting reserves, reduce effluent discharge into the river, economic benefits, enhance food productivity and enhance rehabilitation of Arm End”.

MORE POLITICS:

TASMAN COUNCIL TO GIVE RESIDENTS FINAL SAY ON MERGER

ANALYSIS: VOTERS BEING PLAYED FOR MUGS IN DONATION LAWS

TASMANIAN LIBERALS DECLARE $4.1 MILLION IN POLITICAL DONATIONS

South Arm resident and Re-Imagine The End convener Robyn McNicol will be among several to make deputations tonight at the meeting objecting to the pipeline.

“The legacy of a pipeline will have devastating consequences to the indigenous cultural landscape and the natural environment,” she said.

“The cost and economic return from arm end becoming a coastal walk of cultural significance far outweighs the damage this pipeline will do to our cultural and natural heritage.”

But Arm End project manager Craig Ferguson has defended the plan, saying the nutrient content of the water was considered a positive for most modern irrigation and cropping demands.

Tasmanian Aboriginal Heritage Council has written to Clarence City Council opposing the golf course and the pipe saying “the potential destruction of the significant Tasmanian Aboriginal landscape at Arm End near South Arm is now in jeopardy for the sake of a few privileged people”.