Several Wagga Wagga City councillors have asked to revisit a notice of motion requesting a halt to water easements from the Murrumbidgee River. Photo: NSW Government.
Despite an hours-long debate at the previous Wagga Wagga City Council (WWCC) meeting at which councillors agreed to write to the State Government to halt Murrumbidgee River water easements, a new notice of motion of rescission (NoMoR) has been lodged to revisit the issue.
Councillors Jenny McKinnon and Amelia Parkins asked WWCC to refrain from requesting NSW Minister for Water, Housing and Homelessness Rose Jackson to halt the easements and instead consult landholders and farming groups before planned changes to the controversial Reconnecting River Country Program.
Cr McKinnon said the issue was brought back for council deliberation because councillors lacked information when the original Notice of Motion (NoM) was received.
“We made the point at the council that there was a need for a briefing and for the councillors to be more informed about the whole issue,” she said.
“As councillors we were able to learn more about the Reconnecting River Country Program just a couple of days following the meeting during a community information session and a councillor briefing.
“We knew a whole lot more than we did prior. We learnt that it was a Commonwealth-funded program, which we had no knowledge of prior and that the state is doing a lot of work consulting with landowners attached to the Murray-Darling Basin.
“We also came to understand what some of the legal concerns are about easements.”
Cr McKinnon said she and Cr Parkins were able to develop a notice of motion much better targeted to the root of the issue by taking out the suggestion of halting the program.
Former Wagga City councillor Paul Funnell says WWCC’s choice to revisit the water easement notice of motion is a betrayal of trust formed after last week’s council meeting. Photo: Chris Roe.
But not everyone agrees with the councillors’ decision to revisit the matter.
Save Our River Dwellers (SORD) spokesperson Paul Funnell said the NoMoR was a betrayal of trust and abuse of process.
“Jenny McKinnon (Greens Party affiliate) and Amelia Parkins (Labor affiliate) are clearly being influenced by their party’s agendas and it is a perfect example of why there shouldn’t be party politics at the local government level,” he said.
“All this NoMoR has managed to do is absolutely destroy any hope the community had in WWCC. This topic is a matter of urgency and they’ve found a way to prolong any objection to the easements from the region’s farmers and river dwellers.
“To remove the words that call an immediate halt is devastating. If you don’t call an immediate halt, it’s all over.”
Cr McKinnon said there had been no influence by either party in requesting to revisit the matter.
“In terms of party politics, obviously, Amelia and I are not in the same party. But we are both very concerned with the long-term sustainability of the river, and that’s why we have written a different recommendation to what was in the recommendation last week,” she said.
Mr Funnell said council’s decision to delay writing to state ministers left him feeling worried for his fellow farmers and river dwellers, and the prospect of their properties being flooded by the easements.
“This is going to destroy people’s lives, their businesses, their actual fundamental property rights,” he said.
“The NSW minister supporting this, Rose Jackson, has said time and time again that she is a city dweller who loves water. This is a person who has no concept of what it’s like living on a river yet is forcing compulsory easements.
“It’s government overreach and we are under attack.”
WWCC will vote on the NoMoR at the 11 November ordinary council meeting where Mr Funnell will speak against the proposed changes.
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