WATER Northern Rivers is calling on Rous County Council to immediately release the full results of the community consultation regarding Future Water 2060, following the discovery that Rous has lobbied behind the scenes to get the Dunoon Dam on the NSW Government agenda. 

WATER Northern Rivers spokesperson and former Lismore and Rous County Councillor, Simon Clough said "this occurred before the consultation process had finished and the results made public".  



“Buried in the draft Far North Coast Future Water Strategy, we see that Rous County Council and Lismore City Council had written to the Minister for Water to get the Dunoon Dam on the state government agenda," Mr Clough said.

“The release of the draft regional strategy now reveals that Rous was directly lobbying the minister for a dam at the same time as asking the community for feedback.

"We are also aware that Rous staff have been actively promoting the Dunoon dam to member councils Lismore, Ballina, Richmond Valley, and Byron Bay.

"The community does not like to be involved with consultation processes that don’t appear to be genuine."

Another spokesperson for WATER Northern Rivers.Annie Kia, said "the Draft Far North Coast Regional Water Strategy makes it very clear that sections of Rous have continued to push the out-dated, destructive and highly contentious Dunoon dam proposal to the Minister for Water”.

“It’s disappointing that Rous has had a very narrow focus on the dam, while other experts call for an all options on the table approach," she said.

"There is widespread opposition to the Dunoon dam because it would obliterate rare rainforest and Aboriginal heritage, and we now know that there are better ways to achieve a resilient water system.”

“In July, Rous County Council called for public submissions on its Future Water 2060. Submissions closed on 9th September. Two months is more than enough time for a consultant to report on the results.”

In the interests of transparency, the group says the community consultation report must be made public well in advance of Rous Council’s meeting of 18th November.

"It is essential that councillors, the community, the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment , and the Minister, are fully informed," Ms Kia said.