Dr McGirr met with council general manager Peter Thompson, Councillor Paul Funnell, the Lake Albert Forum and community members on Wednesday morning.

“They have outlined their issues, which I think are very real,” Dr McGirr said.

“It seems to me that the community and the council have come up with a solution that would address a lot of the concerns about the water level in Lake Albert, which is clearly extremely important to the community.”

On Tuesday, Mr Thompson said the plan to install gates on Tatton Drain to redirect water into Lake Albert had been delayed by the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR).

Dr McGirr said he had also contacted the office of NSW Water Minister Niall Blair but warned that NRAR’s status as in independent body “at arm’s length” from the government would “complicate the issue further”.

“As I understand it, NRAR has made a decision that the area that they want to divert is in fact a water course not a drain,” Dr McGirr said.

“That means that (the council) needs to seek approval for this work, and they are concerned about the loss of time.

“I think that’s a very real issue for them, so I have agreed to take that up with the minister and they are providing me with more information.” 

Mr Thompson has said NRAR staff would travel from Dubbo on 15 October to inspect Tatton Drain as part of the approval process.

Dr McGirr said he would not wait for the outcome of that inspection.

“Council has suggested that they would like to commence works prior to that visit, or they would like the visit brought forward, because they don’t want to miss the rain,” Dr McGirr said.

“I think they are reasonable requests.” 

Councillors last month endorsed a plan to use three temporary gates on Tatton Drain to redirect water during storm events.

On Tuesday, Lake Albert Forum member Gary Williams said NRAR’s stance was “absolutely disappointing”.

“The community, I believe, through the councillors and the council, were fully behind the project,” he said.

“We thought it was going to go ahead, we were happy that there was a possibility to save the lake from what’s looking like an environmental train wreck on the way.

“It appears now that regulation is getting in the road.”

An NRAR spokesperson said legislation around waterways meant that “an approval may be required for works that restrict or alter flows in a water source, as they have the potential to impact downstream water users and the environment”.

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