belgrave south & heights sewerage gets closer

Today I went along to the community consultations about the proposed sewerage program for Belgrave South and Heights being held by South East Water.

The project has been brought forward on the sewerage backlog program because of the significant environmental benefits it will deliver to waterways and the environment in the region. The sewer system being proposed is called a hybrid system. Most of the system will be pumped under pressure and directed towards Zigzag Road, where it will then become a gravity flow system down to the valley to the existing sewer at Birdsland.

From left to right: Cr Samantha Dunn – Lyster Ward councillor, Gordon Burr – Project Manager Pressure Systems South East Water and Barbara Ferry-Smith Manager Customer Relations South East Water.

Engineers for the project advise that they plan to install most of the pipes by directional boring, rather than open cut trenching as this helps avoid impact on vegetation, however boring could be challenging given the amount of rocky terrain in the region.

South East Water will take core samples every three to five hundred metres to try to ascertain what techniques they will need to use to install the system. I have been told that approximately 30 trees will require removal as part of the project, however I’ve yet to see details about what trees and where. The sewerage project will need to come to council for planning approval.

On day one of the weekend consultation over 200 community members attended to find out more about the program. Residents were very positive about the program, many not believing they would ever see sewerage come to Belgrave South. I congratulate South East Water for their efforts in getting the message out there to community members.