› Flat Chat Strata Forum › Living in strata › Fire Order, hydrants, water flow, and policy issues › Current Page
@Whale said:
It’s not a State Government policy issue, …
…. Sydney Water’s Operating License permits it to supply its services at levels below those given in its Standards of Service provided it negotiates a Service Agreement with affected customers.
That Service Agreement should give you and other residents some recourse, and may even secure some assistance with overcoming the issues that you’ve mentioned in your post, including some medium term forecasts.
Your Owners Corporation could act as the conduit (sorry again) to initiate discussions on that Service Agreement, so I’d suggest having a representative contact Sydney Water to get things moving.
Hi Whale
thanks for your response. I was aware of most of the background but not all … the extra detail is appreciated. I’m not sure if ‘flow’ is covered in the Service Agreements … I understand ‘pressure’ is and my understanding is that Sydney Water are saying that is not below the agreed minimum. “Flow’ is our problem apparently.
The first suggestion we received (from Sydney Water to our hydraulics consultant) was for our OC to initiate discussions/lobby other buildings etc and so this was the starting point for my thinking. Hence my points in the first post.
I don’t see why one OC needs to spend time and money on a wider problem … in our case I’m told the main was installed in 1917 and so is approaching its centenary and surely end of life. It’s the State Government that is setting the growth targets and Council that is approving the development. They’ve just dug up half the LGA to increase the electricity supply …
I suggest it is a policy problem for the State Government that will require direction to Sydney Water and perhaps a change to the agreement. Council should lobby for change quoting the points I raise in my original post and any other relevant arguments.
I estimate our 40 yr old building has paid close to $1million (current prices) in rates over the years to council and so would expect some leadership from them and a concern for community safety rather than passing the buck.
We have a backpackers across the road and there was a small fire there a while ago. No one wants a tragedy to drive change.
Cheers