$3 million further funding for Walka Water Works
The Minns Labor Government will provide more than $3 million to Maitland City Council to assist with the remediation and restoration of one of the Hunter region’s most important public reserves.
Crown Lands will provide a further $3,058,000 funding as part of ongoing contributions to clean-up historic asbestos contamination at the Walka Water Works reserve at Oakhampton Heights.
The funding will be used to excavate contaminated material as part of Stage 2 of the remediation works.
Walka Water Works is a 64-hectare reserve owned by Crown Lands and managed by Maitland City Council as the appointed Crown land manager.
It is one of the state’s most unique and distinctive sites, serving the Hunter since 1887 as a source of water, then power, and now recreation and heritage. A former water treatment facility and pumphouse at the heritage-listed reserve is one of the region’s largest intact 19th century industrial complexes.
In 2022, Maitland City Council closed the reserve after friable asbestos was found, likely from materials in a decommissioned power station and previously demolished structures.
In December 2022, public access reopened to safe walking tracks and picnic areas, but additional work is needed to remediate other asbestos-contaminated parts of the reserve so they can be restored for safe public use.
The latest Crown Lands funding follows previous contributions of more than $2.2 million to Maitland City Council to fund investigation, analysis, design and development of a remediation plan for the site. Crown Lands has also provided a $434,824 Crown Reserves Improvement Fund grant to repair a timber bridge at the site.
For more information visit Walka Water Works Project.
Member for Maitland Jenny Aitchison said:
“Walka Water works is beloved by the Maitland Community and this vital funding to restore access and amenity will be welcomed by all. Thank you to the Maitland community for their strong advocacy for Walka Water Works.
“Maitland is an area which does not have ocean views, or large tracts of natural recreation land, and the Walka Waterworks site is unique in Maitland in that it combines significant heritage assets with a natural recreation space. Walka is central to Maitland’s identity as one of the earliest European settlement sites north of Sydney, and its importance to the broader Hunter community as a provider of water for early settlers and later electricity. It is vital that it is restored in order to preserve the cultural and heritage significance of this site in Maitland.
Minister for Lands and Property and Minister for Tourism Steve Kamper said:
“Walka Water Works and its contributions to the delivery of fresh water and power supply played a vital part in helping forge the growth of the Hunter region, and today the heritage reserve plays a vital social role as a green recreation, education and tourism space for the community and as an important wildlife reserve.
“I thank Crown Lands and Maitland City Council for their ongoing cooperative efforts to clean-up the reserve so this regional treasure can once again be returned to full public use.”