HORSHAM Rural City Council has once again discussed options for the proposed firefighting water supply at Mockinya.
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The project has been a hot topic for the council for a number of years, with previous options shelved due to funding.
At its August meeting, the council passed a motion to support a Pick My Project application to help fund the dam.
Technical services director John Martin outlined the current proposal for the project in his report to the council.
“A proposal to construct tanks with a capacity of 500 kL is now being supported by the community. The cost of these tanks is estimated at $63,000,” he said.
“To date, it has not been a council responsibility to fund these types of installations.
“A number of funding options have been considered. An application has been made to the state government’s Pick Mt Project scheme to fund these works.”
Community voting for the Pick My Project scheme has started, with results to be released later this month.
“(If the project is successful), this will enable the works to be completed prior to summer,” he said.
Cr Mark Radford was supportive of the motion and said it was an important project for the safety of residents.
“I’m disappointed that we can’t access funds through the Fire Services Levy to build it,” he said.
“It’s a prime example (of why) we should have access to these funds.”
Cr Alethea Gulvin said the council would be able to better support the Country Fire Authority if the project was successful.
“I want to see something happen through Pick My Project,” she said.
“If it doesn’t, council needs to do something about it before summer.”
Cr David Grimble said it had been an ongoing saga for the council.
“The community south of Horsham is one of the most fire prone areas in the state,” he said.
“They are very qualified to make comments about their needs.”
Cr Les Power said he hoped the dam would be built before the fire season started.
“It needs to get done before the next fire season,” he said.
“We need to make a decision and do it. Previous councils should have done this.”
The motion was carried unanimously.