Housing developments are being delayed in Mount Gambier due to water and sewerage infrastructure concerns.
Mount Gambier City Council has been queried if it has been informed of the water and sewerage infrastructure concerns being raised by housing developers.
At council’s May monthly meeting council elected member Max Bruins asked whether SA Water had put a pause on all new major subdivision and development work in the city due to the sewer system being at capacity.
“If so, when were council informed of this and what is being done to fix the issue which will have massive impacts on future growth of the city and the building industry?” he said.
Council’s chief executive Sarah Philpott responded to the question on notice received from Councillor Bruins.
“Until this issue was raised, the (council) executive team was unaware of the concerns,” Ms Philpott said.
Ms Philpott said on receipt of the question on notice for the agenda she contacted SA Water about the issue being raised.
“The advice which SA Water has provided is that Finger Point Wastewater Treatment Plan continues to safely accept and treat sewage from business and homes in Mount Gambier,” she said.
“They flagged there is a high volume of wastewater applications not only in Mount Gambier but across the state.
“While development applications continue to be received and reviewed, their capacity to process applications has been impacted by that high volume.
“Further, SA Water advises they are also under way on a Master Plan for Mount Gambier which considers growth scenarios for the next 30 years.
“In relation to specifics, SA Water reports there are some applications on the edges of the existing network, and require new infrastructure to provide water and wastewater services.
“Some existing approvals may require an assessment if the nature of the development changes over time, or if the network usage has changed since initial pre-approval discussions.
“We will continue to liaise with SA Water about the general issue and also the specifics where appropriate.
“We will keep in touch with the Office of Troy Bell as well given his advocacy for the same issue.
“We have also been in discussions with the new Housing Infrastructure Planning Development Unit, who are also working on behalf of the state to support underlying infrastructure for housing.”
Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell spoke in parliament this month, stating the issue as “a major crisis that we are about to face and very few people know about”.
“I have been contacted by five developers in Mount Gambier and all have the same story,” Mr Bell said.
“They have been either approved to start the development or lay infrastructure, and all of a sudden all approvals have been withdrawn.
“Upon further analysis, many are telling me they now need to do a network analysis of our region.
“This is basically going to mean there is not enough capacity in the sewerage system or the water ability to grow the South East at all.
“That means that, over the next 12 months, there will be zero developments in our region.
“So for a government that is wanting to get more housing into regional South Australia, our developers and our region are at a real crossroads.
“How can we get to a point where developers have put millions of dollars of their own money into these developments, and either the state government or previous state governments, or SA Water, have not had the foresight to say that we have no capacity in our system for growth and development?
“We are going to face a terrible situation where developers are millions of dollars out of pocket.”
Mr Bell said one developer had laid all the pipes for the water and the sewerage and had now been told the development application has been withdrawn.
“So all the workmen – and it is a big site with many machines and people working there – are going to be laid off, they have to go away and he has to wait for this network analysis team to come and do the work,” he said.
“If they find there is not enough sewerage capacity, that infrastructure will take many months if not years to develop out to Finger Point or to get water from the Blue Lake into our region.”
Mr Bell said the developer will face going bankrupt.
“By the time he gets workers back on site, there will be further delays,” he said.
“Most of these blocks have already been sold.
“However, he will not receive any funding for that because he cannot connect the water and sewerage.
“This is an absolute disaster and I cannot believe that we are in this position.
“Who was asleep at the wheel when this stuff should have been done to make sure that we had enough capacity for growth in our region?
“I can tell you now that if this is happening in Mount Gambier it will be happening everywhere else in regional South Australia.”
Mr Bell said his office was contacted by a developer overseeing two significant land developments in Mount Gambier comprising over 400 residential plots, along with essential community amenities, such as childcare, health care and retail facilities.
“The first stage of this development was recently completed, with a cost to the developer of over $1m just for the sewer mains and onsite pump station, but of course it has nowhere to go now because it cannot be connected to the infrastructure that is already there,” he said.
“Groundwork had begun on the next stage, which was going to release another 38 allotments, after initial water and sewerage plans were approved in October last year.
“However, eight months later, they are still to receive the DAFI agreement … that DAFI agreement is not coming because there are much bigger problems, which have been alluded to.”
Mr Bell said another local developer had a very similar story.
“Their project comprises 100 residential plots that are ready to begin but are currently stalled, awaiting official approval from SA Water,” he said.
“Again, I will be telling him it is very unlikely that that is going to be coming.
“The prolonged wait threatens to divert tradespeople to other projects, causing other major delays.
“A third development, consisting of 24 residential plots in Mount Gambier, will not be proceeding due to the exorbitant time delay in SA Water and their approvals.
“It is imperative the government looks at this as a matter of urgency because there are millions of dollars at stake, and I just cannot believe we are in this situation.”
SA Water has responded to the concerns raised by City Council and Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell.
In a written statement to The SE Voice an SA Water spokesperson outlined the current situation.
“To help progress several active housing developments in Mount Gambier, we have recently completed an assessment of our wastewater network to understand its capacity to support the connection of proposed new houses,” the spokesperson said.
“Pleasingly, this has now resulted in agreements for twvo developments – including Limestone Estate – to be formalised this week, which will progress their developments to the next stages with certainty of water and wastewater services.
“We’re also working with a number of other local developers to understand servicing solutions to their proposed developments, and will keep them informed as our investigations progress.
“Importantly, we’re continuing to accept and review all development applications as per our usual process, with around 86 new residential houses approved for construction in Mount Gambier during the past 12 months.”
As background to the current situation, the spokesperson said SA Water “understand the important economic benefits that developments across South Australia will deliver and have prioritised engaging with councils and developers to understand the specific upgrades required to our infrastructure, to enable ongoing development growth”.
“While our existing wastewater network in Mount Gambier meets current customer demands, we’re investigating the future network’s capacity needs to support the city’s long-term projected demand associated with new developments,” the spokesperson said.
“This work includes developing a 30-year masterplan for Mount Gambier’s wastewater network, to ensure we can sustainably enable housing development while maintaining reliable services for our existing customers.
“Many of the proposed developments are located on the periphery of our existing network and will require the delivery of new infrastructure to provide water and wastewater services to these housing developments.
“Operating the wastewater network above its capacity risks overflows to the environment and within properties, along with increased odour emission.
“As a result of the rapid, unprecedented housing growth across South Australia – including in Mount Gambier – and subsequent requests for new water and wastewater services, we acknowledge our capacity to process applications has been impacted and assure developers we’re working as quickly as possible to provide accurate, timely advice on servicing solutions to their developments.
“Supporting the state’s growth demands is a shared responsibility, and we will continue to work collaboratively with developers in Mount Gambier to enable sustainable housing growth.”
