Farmers in recovery mode after the floods could be in line to lose more money. North Coast and Hunter Valley Farmers are facing a 15.8% hike in water bills for government services under IPART’s second draft rural water pricing determination.
That’s according to the NSW Irrigators council, who warn IPART has proposed to increase fees for a Water Administration Ministerial Corporation component of rural water bills by up to 5 percent plus CPI a year.
Licence holders on regulated and unregulated rivers on the North Coast, South Coast and Hunter Valley face the highest cumulative hike of 15.8 per cent by 2028.
They’re concerned farmers with a typical 500 megalitre licence on the North Coast, could be paying up to $254 more each year, with their Hunter Valley counterparts looking at a more than $140 increase.
NSWIC CEO Claire Miller says the ‘prospect of paying hundreds of dollars a year more hurts when you’ve just been through the trauma of watching your land, livestock, fencing and equipment swept away in the floods,’
‘Our member are still not seeing the promised efficiency dividends to reduce government costs and therefore fees, despite paying policy reforms.’
