DESPITE the State Government axing plans for the Wellington weir, the saga seems endless for two farming families.
Nalpa Station owner Phillip Withers, pictured, is the human face of the two-year ordeal with the Government acquiring more than 17 hectares of his family’s property near Wellington to build a 13.5 kilometre road and causeway to the proposed weir site.
The $14.35 million project took two years to complete, with 3000 tonnes of gravel arriving daily at one stage.
Following the announcement by Premier Mike Rann last week that the weir would not go ahead, questions as to who would be responsible for the upkeep of the road and causeway have not been answered.
Mr Withers said the weir project caused undue stress for his family.
“Almost every day for two years we had trucks coming through and people from various departments came through, one after the other,” he said.
“I never wanted the weir to be put in in the first place but had no say.”
A visit to the causeway, which lies between Nalpa Station and Pomanda Island near the head of Lake Alexandrina, showed there were already signs of deterioration.
Mr Withers said lake water was 450 metres from the edge of the causeway until recent downstream flows.
“Water is now washing over the causeway and one corner has sunk,” he said.
“When we get a north westerly wind, waves are four-foot high and come straight over the top.”
While the Withers family was pleased plans to build a weir have been shelved, they were unhappy about a Government decision which required them to build a 13.5km fence.
“We are now expected to fence the water’s edge so the livestock, which have always been here, can’t go in the water,” Mr Withers said. “We have to buy the material and then be reimbursed which we have been told might take up to six months.
“So far we have bought $35,000 worth of fencing material and still have to hire a contractor.”
Wellington Lodge owner Keith McFarlane had a 3.5km road built through his property giving contractors access to the proposed weir site on the opposite side of the river to Nalpa Station.
Mr McFarlane said he never wanted the weir built and was elated with the recent announcement.
He said he had not been contacted about who would be responsible for the roadway through his property.
“I would be surprised if they ever do (contact us),” he said.
“We have rarely heard from them (the Government) and were pretty much hung out to dry over the whole project.”
State Minister for Water Paul Caica said the Government made no apologies for undertaking the necessary preparations to build the weir which could have been needed to protect the State’s drinking water supplies in a worse-case scenario.
Despite questions from The Standard, Mr Caica refused to comment on who was responsible for the maintenance of the roads and causeways on Nalpa Station and Wellington Lodge during the Government’s 25-year lease.
He also refused to comment on why property owners were being made to put up fences or why it would take so long to reimburse Nalpa Station for the expense.
Opposition Water Spokesman Mitch Williams said spending $14.35 million dollars to build roads and a causeway for a project that was never going to be viable was a waste of taxpayer’s money.
“It has impacted the property owners on both sides of the river and was a waste of public funds,” he said.
“They owe the property owners and need to treat them right and show them some respect.”
