Water plant move timing remains fluid

A FIRM timeline is yet to emerge around the relocation of the Macquarie Point wastewater treatment plant, five months after the State Government committed to foot the bill.

After a long-running stalemate with TasWater over who would pay for the relocation, the State Government announced in September it would cover “the vast majority” of the cost.

The sewerage works have been considered a major stumbling block to a potential $1 billion worth of development on the prime waterfront land at Macquarie Point.

Treasurer Peter Gutwein said the State Government was continuing to work with TasWater and the Macquarie Point Development Corporation on the plan to decommission the wastewater treatment plant. Mr Gutwein said he expected the plant to be removed “within around four years”.

“The Corporation is currently progressing amendments to the site Masterplan to facilitate development of the site and it is expected that the plant would be removed within around four years, allowing development to occur without this inhibiting infrastructure,” Mr Gutwein said.

“As further planning work is undertaken, there will be greater clarity on the Government’s final financial contribution to support these projects.”

The relocation was initially costed at $60 million in early 2016, but the estimate leapt to $140 million six months later.

TasWater has committed $40 million to the project.

The State Government plans to sell Elizabeth St Pier to help pay its share.

Mr Gutwein said the pier would be sold by the end of this year.

The Revised Estimates Report released on January 30, 2019 included an allocation of $30 million in each of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 financial years as contributions towards the decommissioning of TasWater’s Macquarie Point wastewater treatment plant, the combined sewerage and stormwater system at Launceston and upgrades at Freycinet.

The Macquarie Point project is set to benefit from a Hobart City Deal, due to be signed when Prime Minister Scott Morrison visits Hobart this week.

In 2015 former state growth minister Matthew Groom oversaw an agreement with TasWater and the Macquarie Point Development Corporation for the treatment plant to be decommissioned by the end of June 2019.