Golf club spends $30k on water changes, only for policy to change

Mowbray Golf Club spends $30k on water changes, only for TasWater to change policy In short: Businesses and sporting clubs faced significant bill increases from July 1 after a TasWater policy change on sewerage charges. Some decided to change their water connections, on the advice of TasWater, only for the billing system to then be changed again. What's next? One golf club is calling for compensation after spending $30,000 on changes that have now been made void following the policy change. A golf club in Launceston is calling for compensation from TasWater after spending an estimated $30,000 on water infrastructure works in response to billing changes, which were then essentially reversed. Mowbray Golf Club saw its water bill double from $20,000 to about $40,000 due to a TasWater policy change to charge based on the size of a water pipe connection, rather than sewerage usage, from July 1. The charge was based on the club's 100-millimetre connection, which it says it only uses in drought conditions and instead relies on its own storage for irrigation. In response, the club decided to sever the 100mm connection and connect its clubhouse and other services to its 50mm connection at significant cost. It increased fees for its members by 10 per cent to help pay for the works. Club general manager Hayden Roberts said they chose to go ahead with the works after being told by TasWater that reducing connection size was the easiest method. "I know we're not the only ones that have done such," he said. On Friday, TasWater announced a change in response to concerns from businesses and sporting clubs. It would take fixed sewerage charges from $20,000 to under $1,000 and charge 100mm connections as 20mm connections, with refunds offered for bills paid since July 1. The change came too late for Mowbray Golf Club, however. "Everyone's standing here going, why did we spend all this money?"Mr Roberts said. "I think it's only reasonable at this point that TasWater remediates these situations, whether it be credit or an outright refund of works completed. "We've actually lost an asset in the process of this removal of connection." TasWater says changes had 'unintended consequences' TasWater contacted the club in response to the policy change but had not made assurances regarding compensation. TasWater general manager of customers and community Callan Paske said the water authority was aware of other clubs and businesses that had made changes to their connections based on TasWater advice. "We're working with those impacted clubs to ensure that we can work through what the final solution is for them," he said. "We understand the customer impact … we need to own that and learn from it." The change in sewerage charging followed an inquiry by the Tasmanian Economic Regulator, which required TasWater to move from an equivalent charging method to a fixed and variable method. This is similar to methods used in other states. Mr Paske said it had disproportionately impacted sporting clubs and businesses, which was addressed by the change announced on Friday. "What this shows is that in any tariff reform there is nuance and we need to fix those outlier impacts that are in unintended consequences of major change," he said. Water infrastructure challenges remain TasWater again faces a challenge in how to fund upgrades to its aging infrastructure. The changes have hit its bottom line by between $7 million and $14 million, according to Mr Paske. "We've got aging infrastructure, failing pipes, we've got growth that we need to cater for, and we've got environmental impacts that we're having that are not what Tasmanians want to see," he said. The change came following discussions between TasWater, the economic regulator, councils and the state government. Premier Jeremy Rockliff said it was a "significant and lasing outcome" for businesses and sporting clubs. Shadow treasurer Dean Winter said the government had the power to veto TasWater's corporate plan, and questioned why this had not occurred following successive significant price increases.