Bellingen Shire Council has awarded a $5.6 million tender to Ledonne Construction Pty Ltd for the next phase of its Sewering Coastal Villages project.
The tender covers the installation of 226 individual Pressure Sewer units in the villages of Mylestom and Raleigh, the installation of compliant property sanitary drainage works where necessary, and the associated construction of approximately 5,500m of street mains.
Deputy General Manager Operations for Bellingen Shire Council, Ashley Greenwood, described the project as the single biggest infrastructure project ever undertaken by Council, funded by more than $11 million from the NSW Government’s Safe and Secure Water Program, and over $27 million from Bellingen Shire Council.
“The first phase of the project, which was to upgrade the Urunga Sewage Treatment Plant so that it was able to receive and process the extra wastewater from the coastal villages, is nearly complete,” said Mr Greenwood.
“The second phase of the project has been divided into two parts – the first being the construction of new sewer infrastructure, such as sewer pump stations and rising mains, for Mylestom and Raleigh.
“The second part, which this contract covers, is to install and connect a low pressure sewer unit on each property, as well as installing the pipes and associated infrastructure to transport the wastewater from each property to the sewer pump stations within each village, which then pump the wastewater to the Urunga Sewage Treatment Plant.”
Mayor, Steve Allan praised the project team for their hard work in delivering the ambitious and technically complex project to this point.
“The environmental benefits of this project are clear: overloaded or failing septic systems contaminate the groundwater as well as the nearby waters of the Bellinger and Kalang river systems,” said Mayor Allan.
“Not only are there odour and water quality issues, but there are also serious impacts on public health, as well as on the health of our rivers, wetlands, oyster farms and local businesses.
“This once in a generation project will help protect our beautiful coastal environment, as well as providing a sustainable sewerage service to benefit and meet the needs of our community into the future.”
