Growing tide against Tillegra
An overwhelming response to 6 Newcastle Herald Polls has demonstrated that Hunter residents are strongly against the proposed Tillegra Dam. The votes in these polls have been up to 2-3 times more than most other polls conducted by the Newcastle Herald during 2008-09, clearly indicating the level of interest in and opposition to this proposal.
A recent street poll by the Maitland Mercury (2/2/09) had 4/5 people saying no to “Do you think Tillegra Dam should be built if it will have a negative impact on the wetlands?”
These results are a telling message to Hunter Water executives, local Labor politicians (especially those with marginal seats) and the NSW Government.
(updated 10 May 2009)
Newcastle Herald polls and results:
Q: Do the potential economic benefits justify the cost of building Tillegra Dam?
Yes (30.1%)
No (69.9%)
Total Votes: 103, Poll Date: 2/04/2009
Q: Hunter Water wants to raise your water bill to help pay for Tillegra Dam. How much extra are you willing to pay per year?
$5 (80.5%)
$50 (11.5%)
$100 (5.7%)
$200 (2.3%)
Total Votes: 87, Poll Date: 20/02/2009
Q: What’s more important: preserving Hunter wetlands or building Tillegra dam to safeguard our water supply?
The wetlands (90.6%)
The dam (9.4%)
Total Votes: 329, Poll Date: 28/01/2009
Q: Should Hunter Water customers pay the whole cost of building Tillegra dam, currently estimated at about $400 million?
Yes, it’s needed to safeguard our region’s future water supply (6.8%)
No, it’s not a priority and water bills are high enough already (93.2%)
Total Votes: 190, Poll Date: 22/12/2008
Q: Should the plans for Tillegra Dam be shelved?
Yes, a rethink is in order (87.9%)
No, we need to drought-poof our region now (12.1%)
Total Votes: 232, Poll Date: 22/10/2008
Q: Does the proposed Tillegra Dam represent a sound investment in the region’s long term drought security?
No (84.5%)
Yes (15.5%)
Poll date: 2008