A feasibility study in 2014 looked at the cost of bringing a sewerage system to three of Kyogle’s villages — Tabulam, Wiangaree and Mallanganee.
The Three Villages Water/Sewer Update report is back on the Kyogle Council agenda and was discussed at the monthly meeting on February 9.
Mayor Danielle Mulholland said, “We’ve been talking about this for a long time.”
And the council has.
“Three villages in our LGA are without (town) water and sewerage. That is astonishing to me,” Ms Mulholland said.
“It’s a basic human right and I’d like to see us proceed.”
The council is going to need a lot of money to do this.
In 2014, the study showed the cost was $3million for each village.
The revised costs are shown in the table below:
The total cost for all three villages is now more than $36million.
Councillor Brett McNamara said it was an “extraordinary blowout”.
“How will we deliver this?” Mr McNamara said.
In 2023 and 2024, the council bought land for future treatment plant locations at Tabulam, costing $130,000 (with 50 per cent coming from the council’s Water Fund for the site at Tabulam housing both water and sewer treatment plants on the one site) and Wiangaree, costing $300,000.
The purchase of land at Mallanganee is in progress and is expected to cost $300,000.
Getting town sewerage and water systems to these villages isn’t going to happen quickly.
For Tabulam it looks like residents will have to wait until 2030, for Mallanganee and Wiangaree residents it’s likely to take until 2036.
This information is important for residents who may in the process of putting in a septic or new rainwater tanks.
Residents want to know how much will it cost to get the water and sewerage system connected to their homes when the project is complete.
Council’s general manager Marcus Schintler said they couldn’t answer that question yet.
Councillor Tom Cooper said he thought everyone in the villages would want water and sewer.
“But it depends on the weather,” he said.
“”It’s a real health issue, septic systems just don’t work. The people may not want it, I think they have to have it.”
Mr Cooper pointed out that “we can’t do the sewer without the water.”
The cost for the project has risen by 400% in the past decade and the council will need to consider several options to get the Three Villages project happening.
The council is looking at all options — one of these is to see what the community’s appetite is for paying sewer rates a few years before construction and then ongoing rates.
The other discussion with the village communities is about the cost of the plumbing modification and decommissioning of existing on-site septic systems.
Kyogle Council staff intend to discuss this with the community.
There is a detailed report in the council agenda about the history of the project so far and it highlights the complicated progress and stopping and starting at Tabulam. Read more here.
The council report highlighted that the infrastructure for the three villages is part of a broader plan to enable new housing development which includes roads, water, sewer and waste collection.
This article appeared on indyNR.com on 16 February 2026.
