Local government calls for fair funding to address pressure on water infrastructure
30 March 2005
Local government needs additional federal assistance to help ease mounting pressure on water infrastructure, ALGA President, Cr Paul Bell, told the National Water Summit in Sydney today.
"ALGA is seeking support from the Australian Government to help Australia's 675 councils with their infrastructure needs across the board," Cr Bell said. "All councils are facing an increasing challenge to renew, upgrade and replace ageing infrastructure, much of dating from the post-war era (1950s/60s).For example, coastal councils are grappling with significant demographic change and huge increases in visitor numbers, placing massive demands on water infrastructure.
"ALGA is pressing for a three-pronged solution to address the growing infrastructure crisis:
- Fair federal funding arrangements for local government, moving from the archaic system of financial assistance grants to a fair share - one per cent - of national taxation revenue.
- New partnerships with the federal government, similar to the Roads to Recovery program, to help councils with non-road infrastructure, including water infrastructure.
- Development of a funding model for regional infrastructure combining finance from all three spheres of government to support local government infrastructure projects, with $200m to be provided by the federal government over four years.
"A recent ALGA survey of coastal councils revealed that nearly 90% of coastal councils experienced population increases over the past five years and of these, more than half have experienced annual growth rates over 4%. On average, coastal shires in Victoria must plan for their population to increase by 250% during peak tourism periods, placing significant pressure on the local community who must provide the services and infrastructure the tourists demand.
"Councils identified their biggest environmental issue as providing an adequate water supply. Large increases in population over a relatively short period of time have resulted in a lack of water infrastructure development and capacity in many coastal areas," Cr Bell said.
Cr Bell's speech can be accessed at www.alga.asn.au
