The construction of Portland’s new Waste and Water Treatment Plant will allow 500 new houses to be connected to Portland’s sewerage treatment facility.

Member for Bathurst Paul Toole said completion of the Albion Road project, which is scheduled for August, will let Portland expand beyond its current village size.

“Before hand we saw Portland at full capacity. The old facility meant that no new houses could be tapped into the system.”

“With future planning from the council, they will be able to identify more land that’s available for development with the possibility for another 500 new houses houses, new businesses and even a new industry,” Mr Toole said. 

The $12 million investment into a new water and waste treatment facility in Portland was announced in early 2014 and was jointly funded by the council and the NSW government. 

$10.1 million was contributed to the treatment plant by the state government through their Resources for Regions Program. The program was established to invest in the infrastructure of communities that may be affected by the accumulation of mining wealth.

Lithgow City Council’s manager of operations, Iain Stewart, said Portland’s former sewage treatment facility was built in the early fifties and was no longer compliant with the Environmental Protection Authority’s licensing standards.

“The EPA license things like sewerage discharge plants because most discharge ends up in local creeks. The old plant could not meet what was required and this new plant most certainly will.”

“This will allow for future development in Portland. If someone wants to develop blocks of land, now we can accommodate them.”

Mr Stewart said the council will also be commencing planned roadwork in Portland in the near future.