LANDHOLDERS will benefit from upgraded roads, improved power supplies and extra resources for fire-fighters if the Macquarie Pipeline is approved, according to Orange City Council.
The council outlined it’s commitment to landholders in the environmental assessment (EA) for the project.
Areas of the road surface along the pipeline route will be upgraded to enable construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of the pipeline after it has been constructed.
The council is also working with the NSW Rural Fire Service to provide access to two 100,000 litre water tanks to be built alongside two pump stations for fire fighting.
The power line will be upgraded to three phase power as part of a major upgrade to power lines along most of the pipeline route which the council says will enable farmers to operate more equipment and provide more capacity for extra residences to be connected to the power supply.
The pipeline will be built on a six metre wide easement when it cuts through private farming land.
The council will pay landholders for the land and will also be able to use it again when the surface above the pipeline has been rehabilitated. The project’s environmental coordinator Leonie Martin will develop property construction and restoration management plans for each landholder.
Taking into account their everyday farming practices with concerns they may have and including rehabilitation plans for each property with weed management and erosion control.
They have also been offered the opportunity to participate in a property management planning course funded by Orange City Council and the Central West Catchment Management Authority and delivered by NSW DPI.
The project’s environmental assessment is open for public comment until October 15.
