A GROUP of Salt Ash residents only metres outside of the Defence contamination “red zone” will have their properties connected to town water after pressure from politicians.
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Port Stephens MP Kate Washington has been told that residents on both sides of Chris and Shady avenues in Salt Ash will have their properties connected to town water, paid for as part of the federal government’s $3.5 “water reticulation program”.
It comes after some residents on the two streets were left out of the initial program, despite their neighbours being included.
Jan McCall, who lives in Shady Avenue, was one of the residents initially left out of the program.
“We’re in an unusual situation where one side of the street is in the red zone and the other side isn’t,” she said.
“So one side of the street was told not to eat eggs from your chickens, don’t water vegetables with bore water, and then and on the other side we're supposed to feel that we're not affected in anyway,” she said.
“We were told not to worry [but] that didn't give us much confidence, to be honest.
“When we heard town water was getting put through it limited our concerns, but then it wasn’t coming across to our side of the road.”
Ms McCall approached Ms Washington, who wrote to the NSW Water Minister Niall Blair to raise the issue.
Although a federal issue, Mr Blair confirmed this month that Defence would pay for properties on “both sides” of the two streets to be connected.
“This news will be a welcome relief to those residents on the border of the red zone that they have not been forgotten,” Ms Washington said.
“Connecting residents to town water is an important first step, but there are still unanswered questions about the impact of dust and the effect that construction on the base is having on the health of surrounding residents.”
Still unclear is whether Defence will extend the program into Fullerton Cove. In September the Newcastle Herald revealed Defence was considering paying for people 300 metres south of the contamination “red zone” to be connected to town water after the chemicals at the centre of the scandal were found at two properties on Fullerton Cove Road.
Newcastle Greens councillor Michael Osborne, who has been calling for the connections to be extended, said an elected representatives meeting this week had been told Fullerton Cove was a “sticking point”.
“I think they’re still looking at how far they go into Fullerton Cove,” he said.
Defence said it was “currently finalising negotiations with the Hunter Water Corporation on the scope of the capital works in the Williamtown area and will be in a position to announce the scope of works in the near future”.
