FOR seven years oyster farmer John Lindsay has been waiting for the Kalang River to reopen to oyster harvesting.
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Closed due to an outbreak of ‘Norovirus’ in July 2008, even after all this time, the future he dreams of appears as illusive as ever.
“The Bellingen Shire Council is seen to be a green council but this defies that,” John said.
“How can it possibly take this long?
John said he now referred to his oysters as his ‘pets’ because all he could do was care for them.
“I keep going because I love it and keep hoping it will be sorted but now we are just about finished. It costs me to continue and it would also cost me a fortune to walk away because there is so much infrastructure in the river, all of which would have to be removed.”
Following the closure, bureaucracy stepped in and a Premier’s Working Group was formed to find a solution.
Protracted river testing, analysis and meetings began with riverside septics found to be high on the list of culprits, especially on Newry Island and along Urunga’s Atherton Dr.
After years of inaction, the Bellingen Shire Council began a process of testing all on-site sewer management systems (OSMS) and extending the sewer access on Newry Island with all residents required to connect.
And this is where things have stalled.
With three Newry Island properties still not connected, the NSW Food Authority is not able to give the green light for final testing to go ahead.
A Food Authority spokesperson, said a recent visit showed progress had been made but apart from Newry Island, there were a number of other sources in need of checking by the council.
“The majority of Newry Island properties are now connected to the sewerage extension,” the spokesperson said.
“The Food Authority has commenced preliminary work to re-classify the shellfish harvest area however this is dependent on the remediation work being finalised by the Bellingen Shire Council.”
Bellingen Council’s general manager, Liz Jeremy, said the additional inspections of properties in and around Urunga requested by the Food Authority had now been completed.
“In the main, the systems are operating adequately however Council will need to undertake liaison with a state government agency in relation to a couple of the OSMS systems,” Mrs Jeremy said.
“Council will now proceed to issue relevant approvals for those systems where the inspection process has been completed and will report the outcomes to the NSW Food Authority.
“In addition Council will continue to address the issue of the remaining properties still to be connected to the Newry Island Sewer Scheme.
“The Council understands that all of the issues originally raised in relation to the Norovirus and closure of the Kalang River need to be addressed before testing will be undertaken by the NSW Food Authority.”