Sugarloaf Pipeline proposals rejected

By Kath Gannaway
THE Yarra Glen Township Group has rejected Melbourne Water’s preferred route for the proposed Sugarloaf Interconnector Pipeline.
At a YGTG meeting on Thursday 30 August, group members and members of the local community heard the pipeline had important ramifications for the township and the district.
YGTG chairman Malcolm Calder said there would be massive environmental disturbance during the construction phase.
The pipeline, which will supplement Melbourne’s water supply by piping water from the Goulburn River across the Great Divide and on to Sugarloaf Reservoir at Christmas Hills, is a major water initiative of the State Government.
The project is currently in the design stages but Melbourne Water has said its preferred option is to build the pipeline along Melba Highway to Dixons Creek then along Hunts Lane through the Steels Creek Valley to Glenview Road and on to Sugarloaf.
“We have agreed to reject this option on the grounds of its potential impact on both the environment and the rural industries,” Mr Calder chairman told the Mail.
He said the group’s preferred option was for the pipe to continue down the Melba Highway to where it crosses the Maroondah aqueduct and to then use the aqueduct land owned by Melbourne Water to meet up with their current proposal at the southern end of Steels Creek Road.
If this option was chosen, Mr Calder said during the restoration phase Melbourne Water should be asked, among other things, to upgrade Gulf Road by sealing the surface.
The group totally rejected another option to take the pipeline right into Yarra Glen and along Symonds Street.
While the YGTG nominated a preferred option they will put forward to Melbourne Water, Mr Calder said several people had also spoken strongly as a matter of principle against the concept of bringing water from the Goulburn/Murray catchments across the divide.
“Goodness knows, communities and rivers north of the divide, especially the Murray, have been in dire straits in recent years and are in desperate need for any water they can get,” Mr Calder said.
Seymour MP and Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Ben Hardman told the Mail views already put to Melbourne Water were forming part of the route investigation.
He said a corridor had been identified for investigation and further consultations, cultural/heritage and flora and fauna studies had begun.
“On-ground investigations will help firm up the route selection,” he said.
Mr Hardman said environmental considerations would be a key factor in determining the route and that Melbourne Water would have ongoing consultation with all stakeholders and affected landowners.
“I understand that there will be opposition to the project and I respect people’s right to object,” Mr Hardman said.
“I am concerned to ensure that people will have the widest possible opportunity to gain information about the project and to have their input.”