Local residents attended the Wednesday council meeting in an attempt to understand the sewerage scheme and speak out about their concerns.

Murrumbateman resident Margaret Head said the community is really cross and that initially the proposal to charge residents 12 months in advance was unjust. 

“I felt like the moral principle was lacking, that consideration that people's incomes have remained the same as prices are consistently going up.

“I felt that you [council] hadn’t been mindful of vulnerable families."

Margaret went on to say that now she understands the situation, it is a reasonable deal. 

“I understand that things have to be paid for, the problem is that people just don't understand. The more you learn the more you appreciate the situation.”

Councillor Michael McManus shed some light on the necessity for rate rises and the borrowing of Yass reserves to fund the scheme. 

“We need this, and people of Yass town's reserves are building this,” he said. 

“Everyone in Murrumbateman knows that it smells as soon as it starts to rain and you can see it in the streets. The septic levels were above the state health regulations.

“The EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] is chasing us to do it. It's either Murrumbateman residents start to make their commitments or failing that, they will have to pick up the tab for the next couple of years.”

Cr McManus said that other infrastructure developments will not be allowed through without the resolution of the problem. 

“We made a decision to make this happen, we are all in the same boat, because it comes out of Murrumbateman down the creek and into the Yass water supply.

“These are progress payments and the developer out there is paying twice as much for this. 

“There is no such thing as magic money.” 

The council staff were criticised by some councillors and residents in the gallery for not having enough community consultation about the issue with the residents, however Cr McManus reminded the room that in the February meeting council was frozen from contacting residents until the motion was dealt with.

Councillor Geoff Frost described it as a policy designed to confuse people. 

“It's all of the Yass Valley, they are the people that are going to be billing it.... Look at rates of growth... The amount and time that Yass may be subsidising this is somewhere between four and five years, we are in a low interest rate area. 

“You [council] had already made the decision, that's not consultation, that's telling them. 

“No one is saying don't build it, but get the people to pay for it when they get the system.” 

He stated that many residents don’t want a sewerage system and that it was unfair to pin one community against another, with one community subsidising another. 

Council will be holding a community meeting in the coming weeks to discuss the issue with residents.