West Tamar Council and TasWater working on sewerage solution

The document bearing 114 signatures from Gravelly Beach residents and addressed to the 'TasWater Area Manager of Infrastructure Planning' was submitted to the council.

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West Tamar councillors voted unanimously to accept the petition and forward it to TasWater at the council's latest meeting on May 18.

Councillor Geoff Lyons, who moved the motion to accept the report, said it was time the infrastructure was updated as many properties still had septic tanks rather than connections to a sewer main.

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"We used to have wells ... then people put septic tanks in and that put the overflow from the septic tanks into the wells," Cr Lyons said.

"If you've dug a hole in the sand at the various beaches, which used to exist at Gravelly Beach, you could actually drink the fresh water.

"I wouldn't like to do it today as a result of those underground streams being contaminated. It would be nice if we had sewage going somewhere where it's properly treated."

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Cr Lyons said he did not think using the existing TasWater treatment plant at Exeter would be the right solution, however that should not prevent new infrastructure being built.

A report on the petition prepared for the council states that there would be several difficulties in using the Exeter plant to service Gravelly Beach, particularly as the latter town sits lower on the water table, necessitating pumping infrastructure.

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The motion was seconded by councillor Rick Shegog, who said modern infrastructure would support further development of the region.

"Clearly it will open up lots of development opportunities for that area (Gravelly Beach) if that was to happen," he said.

"It's out of our control, but I fully support the petition going to TasWater."

A TasWater spokesperson confirmed the organisation had received the petition, however it was too early to say whether or not an extension of a sewer mainline was feasible.

"We have discussed the petition with West Tamar Council and will continue to work with them on the request for a service introduction," they said.

"Before exploring the feasibility and detail of any potential service introduction, the first step will be to engage with the local community to better understand the request."

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