Maitland City Council became trustees of Walka Water Works Recreation and Wildlife Reserve on August 3, 2007.
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Prior to this appointment the previous trust set out to make many improvements to the public reserve including the building of a mini rail facility as an attraction and revenue earner for maintenance of the reserve.
Council was a generous sponsor over many years that assisted with maintaining the park.
The boomgate raised valuable revenue and the indoor museum was a tourist attraction that provided some revenue and the cafeteria was a convenience for visitors to the park – council removed all three of these revenue sources.
Council also closed down the caravan park that the former trust spent $7000 on providing power outlets and water to the site and a camping ground – both were used extensively and a revenue raiser.
Since council was appointed trustee in 2007, council has commissioned no less than seven studies by consultants that has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, in most cases offset by grants up to 50 per cent, each final report required the spending of millions of dollars that was never available in the first place.
Walka is important to Maitland City Council as it assisted council to meet its requirement of providing 50 hectares of green space; at the time the shortfall was in excess of 100 hectares to meet the population criteria.
It is now time for council to recognise that Walka is an important iconic landmark of the Hunter Valley; it not only provides the green space required by council, it is also a very important recreation park for the families of Maitland and its surrounds.
The NSW state government has failed to provide sufficient funds to their trustee Maitland City Council to maintain Walka Public Reserve to a proper standard, a standard set by the previous Public Trust and that council promised to maintain.
Council needs to have a separate budget for Walka Water Works, not as it is now, a part of the overall council parks operations.
Council should include in their section 94 city-wide plan a contribution for Walka.
- Ray Fairweather, Former Walka Water Works trustee and chairman of 14 years