Sign up for water protest

“I’m not a tree hugger ... I’m just someone who’s concerned about the future of Orange,” Sam Nelson said.

Mr Nelson said it was hard to predict how many protesters would meet at Robertson Park’s rotunda at noon to air their concerns over Orange’s water use.

“I know at least 30 people will be there but if it’s a sunny day I think we’ll get more,” he said.

ECCO secretary Nick King will also perform a song he’s written about the issue.

Haidee Nelson, who is working with her husband to organise the protest, said they have had a lot of positive feedback about the event.

“We had one woman say she’d put in a drought-resistant garden and had worked hard to save water and couldn’t believe that this has happened,” she said.

Mr Nelson admits there have also been some sections of the community who have told him to “get a life” or asked him what right he had to tell them how to live their lives.

“I’m a concerned citizen of Orange and I have a right to an opinion and a right to voice that opinion,” he said.

Mr Nelson said he couldn’t understand why people would be against saving water as any overflow from Suma Park Dam did not go to waste.

“It’s all used, it may not be used by consumers but it goes to dams, rivers and creeks,” he said.

The Nelsons agree their next dilemma is deciding what action to take after the protest, although they’re hopeful that a petition circulated at the event may prompt council to readdress the issue and revert to level four restrictions.

Mr Nelson said there were still unanswered questions, including whether lowering the water restrictions is a revenue raising exercise, when the council thinks Orange will see heavy rain again and how councillors think level five restrictions have negatively impacted on Orange residents.

The Facebook site the couple established, Orange Water Warriors, has 90 members.

tracey.prisk@ruralpress.com