It’s been a decade since a dry piece of Crown land at the tip of a peninsula was leased to a private developer for a golf course – and now a pipe is being installed to bring treated sewage to the area, using millions of dollars in Commonwealth funds.

Seven kilometres of pipe are being laid along the bed of the River Derwent to connect the arid South Arm Peninsula with a planned recycling sewage treatment plant on the opposite bank.

The proposed Arm End public golf course and public recreation area are at the other end of the pipeline.

But while work on the pipeline continues, the developer faces multiple legal challenges – one in the High Court against approval for a golf course and another in a planning tribunal against a sewage treatment plant.

The Morrison Coalition government awarded the project $5 million in 2021 under the National Water Grid Connections program to support increased agricultural irrigation.

Private developers contributed $13 million.

South Arm Irrigation Scheme operations manager Michael Kerschbaum told ABC Drive the golf course was a “catalyst” for the irrigation project.

Another proposed water user is the nearby Iron Pot Golf Course.

Mr Kerschbaum said the irrigation project had “offtake agreements” with nine landowners who “we hope will turn it into something useful”.

Each of them will have to pay for connection to the pipeline that brings purified class A water to the peninsula.

Promise to make water available for agriculture

The recycled water will be used to irrigate 21 hectares of fairways and roughs on the course, 3.1 hectares of greens and tees and 10 hectares of native vegetation.

The golf course and recreation area will use up to 200 megalitres of water per year, with 730 megalitres supplied by the treatment plant.

Over the next three weeks, the pipe will be floated and sunk into the Derwent in 500-metre segments to connect one bank to the other. The onshore distribution pipe has not yet been installed.

South Arm Irrigation Scheme chief executive Mary Massina said other uses include the construction of a fire station, the development of other recreational areas or potential new agricultural uses for growing cherries, olives and grapes.

She added that the sewage treatment plant will also reduce the amount of treated sewage going into the River Derwent Estuary.

“Bringing water to South Arm is about increasing prosperity for all residents of the South Arm Peninsula,” Ms Massina said.

“We’ve been very vocal about how important it is that landowners, whether they’re farmers, residents or community members, have access to that water.

The project has encountered a number of obstacles and will require further approval from Clarence City Council before the pipe can be laid on the South Arm side.

Clarence Council’s original 2013 approval for the golf course is subject to a Supreme Court appeal by the Tasmanian Conservation Trust (TCT) over whether work had “substantially commenced” by an October 2022 deadline.

Work carried out included the removal of thorns and reforestation.

Opponents say pipeline work may be premature

TCT chief executive Peter McGlone said they did not oppose bringing treated water to the peninsula but were opposed to building a golf course.

He said the installation of the pipe in Derwent may be premature.

“I would be concerned about investing my time and money in the pipeline until the outcome of the lawsuit is known,” Mr. McGlone said.

The case will return to the Supreme Court on September 24.

The planning tribunal hearing ended on Tuesday and a decision will be made at a later date.

Project backers hope purified water will be available on the South Arm Peninsula in the first half of next year and the golf course will open in 2026.

Loading…