I have been involved in the business of real estate for over 30 years and am very sure that my vendors would be extremely dissatisfied if I treated their property with such disdain.

Who is the vendor? If it’s the ratepayers of the shire I must say I am very disappointed with the BVSC’s efforts in selling what should be on of Merimbula’s most desirable sites. When did the BVSC open its own real estate business? Perhaps the vendors of the site should sack the current “agent” and employ one of the local real estate agents. Come on council lift your game. 

The Bega Valley Shire is the only local government area in NSW without filtration systems on its water supplies. As a result, it requires high dosing of other chemicals particularly chlorine to compensate and make our water supposedly safe to drink. I know personally that when I turn a tap on at home quite often the stench of chlorine is overwhelming and I am reluctant to drink it.

The other issue I notice is the bluey green ring of confidence that forms regularly on the bottom of my basins which is residual copper from my house pipes. Chlorine is highly corrosive and at high levels will corrode copper pipes.

The Brogo water supply which provides for the northern towns of Cobargo and Bermagui, as well as Wallaga Lake, have recently been on a boiled water alert for the second or third time in the past fifteen months, whilst the Bega -Tathra supply has had ongoing issues with many complaints from the public over a long time with water that can be so discoloured it looks filthy.

The Yellow Pinch-Tantawanglo supply feeds the southern part of the shire also has its own issues requiring high levels of chemicals to make it acceptable. To rectify this situation the council will need perhaps up to $60 million to install filtration systems on all of our water supplies.

This is something the ratepayers obviously cannot bear but the state government and Mr Constance who are always highlighting how cashed up they are, now need to be come to the party for the sake of the community’s health and wellbeing. 

At the moment the council are about to undertake the installation of a filtration system for the Bemboka water supply which the state government has agreed to fund at an estimated cost of $2.5 million. This while the government is trying to add the toxic chemical fluoride to our water supplies because they claim it has health benefits.

To my way of thinking  and I would suggest the majority of the shire’s residents, it is time the council and the state government got their priorities right and focused on providing us with filtered high quality water supplies without the chemical add-ons that are anathema, and totally unacceptable to our modern way of life.

The Bega branch of Red Cross would like to thank the community for their generous support during the month of March for our Red Cross Calling  campaign.  This includes the businesses that housed our collection boxes as well as those that donated.  

The money received will be used to fund Red Cross programs that assist disadvantaged and vulnerable people.  An example of this work is the support that Red Cross staff and volunteers are providing to affected communities in the wake of the floods and destruction of cyclone Debbie in Queensland and Northern NSW.