Fight for Wombarra sewerage system continues

Lisa Baker cofounder of STINCI wants Upper Coledale and Wombarra connected to the sewerage system.

A CABINET reshuffle in the NSW Government has prompted residents of upper Coledale and Wombarra to step up their campaign to be connected to the town sewerage system.

The campaign of community group STINCI (Septic Tanks in Northern Communities Illawarra) first made headlines over a year ago.

The group has since struggled with a lack of support from the state government and Wollongong City Council, but are hoping the recently appointed Minister for Water Utilities, David Campbell, will assist their efforts.

"It's taken us a year just to find out who we should be lobbying," STINCI co-founder Lisa Baker said.

"David Campbell is a local and a former Mayor of Wollongong, so at least he knows about the problem and is aware of the issues."

Ms Baker is encouraging affected residents to write to the Minister via Heathcote MP Paul McLeay to raise awareness of the situation.

More than 150 households west of the train line in Coledale, Wombarra, Scarborough and Clifton are still forced to deal with the problems of septic tanks.

Ms Baker said these problems, which include foul odours, environmental contamination and costly pump-outs, were getting progressively worse.

"When I moved to this area six-and-a-half years ago a pump-out cost $25," the Coledale resident said.

"Now it's $66.30 and this is something that we have to get done fortnightly.

"It's just getting unaffordable and this is an essential service, not a luxury."

Further north at Wombarra, resident Louise Willows said she was concerned about the pollution caused by seep away sewerage systems.

"When it rains you can actually see sludge running down the road," she said.

"The smell can get really bad."

Households in Stanwell Park, Stanwell Tops, Coalcliff and Otford were connected to town sewerage last year as part of the Priority Sewerage Program (PSP).

These areas received an "A" ranking from the Department of Environment and Conservation, then the EPA, which assessed areas for the PSP, looking at environmental factors such as closeness to water bodies and other sensitive areas and effectiveness of current systems.

A hierarchy was developed to decide who would get sewerage first, second and last or possibly never.

Coledale and Wombarra were given an environmental ranking of "B", which David Campbell said would delay any connection to the sewerage system.

"The Government is at this stage not proposing to give consideration to lower ranked villages until the servicing of the "A" ranked villages is substantially complete," he said.

Ms Baker is hoping that the areas from Coledale to Clifton can be reassessed and made a higher priority.

However, she said this was proving difficult without the support of Wollongong City Council.

"Other councils are lobbying the state government, but ours has not shown much empathy or offered much assistance to us," she said.

Ms Baker said residents needed to make some noise or they risked being forgotten completely.