Hastings Point Wastewater Treatment Plant performance upgrade

The Hastings Point Wastewater Treatment Plant currently services about 12,860 people who live, work and holiday in Cabarita Beach, Bogangar, Hastings Point and Pottsville.

While the plant is licensed by the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to service about 18,000 people, ageing assets mean it requires improvement works now to maintain performance and ensure it can continue meeting this licensed capacity into the future.

Community benefits

By upgrading the performance of the plant, we will be able to provide resilient and efficient wastewater services for current and future populations. The quality of treated wastewater will be higher, ensuring the plant continues to meet the conditions of its EPA licence.

Options for upgrading

In 2024, Council engaged external engineering consultants, GHD, to evaluate 5 potential upgrade options for the Hastings Point WWTP. This assessment considered technical performance, environmental impact and financial feasibility to identify the most suitable upgrade.

The consultants recommended Option 4: Construct a third extended aeration tank (EAT) as the preferred solution due to its balance of performance, cost and environmental outcomes.

The consultant's report was then subjected to a peer review by Hunter BECA, an independent engineering consultant, who also concluded that Option 4 was suitable compared to the alternatives.

View the Options Assessment Report 2024 and Peer Review of Options Assessment 2024 for details on the options.

Option 4 involves:

• constructing a third extended aeration tank
• new inlet works and odour treatment system
• a 99kW solar array
• other complementary improvements
• renewal of existing components at the plant.

The GHD assessment names these benefits of Option 4:

• maintains the current plant’s operational philosophy with a familiar technology whilst increasing treatment capacity, reliability and redundancy
• relatively low technical risk in construction and commissioning
• relatively low energy consumption
• low maintenance
• reuses a large amount of existing infrastructure that has remaining life.
  
  

Community engagement

Public exhibition

In May and June 2024, Council sought community feedback on the draft Hastings Point Wastewater Treatment Plant Options Assessment. Of the submissions received:

• 50% supported the proposed performance upgrade, with some specific issues raised
• 33% were neither for nor against, with some specific issues raised
• 17% were against the proposal.
  
  

Further studies

As a result of public exhibition and additional community input in late 2024 and early 2025, Council resolved at their 20 February 2025 meeting to undertake additional engineering assessment works for both Option 4: constructing a third extended aeration tank (EAT) and Option 5: converting to a membrane bioreactor (MBR) process with the addition of a contact tank. The additional works are now underway and will focus on:

• further developing performance upgrade Options 4 and 5, to provide more accurate costings and consider outcomes of the noise and odour studies
• further investigating the current and future loadings on the Hastings WWTP including the impact of holiday loading
• considering all relevant legislative and regulatory requirements following the performance upgrade of the plant
• considering budget impacts of Options 4 and 5 in Council’s long-term financial plan.
  
  

Project consultative committee

At the 19 June 2025 Council meeting, Council resolved to form a consultative committee to provide feedback on strategic aspects of the Hastings Point Wastewater Treatment Plant performance upgrade, including options for the plant’s future.

Expressions of Interest to join the committee were open in July and August 2025. We received a strong pool of applicants with a variety of skills, experience and perspectives relevant for the project.

At the 18 September 2025 Council meeting, Council appointed 5 community members to the committee, after carefully evaluating all applications against the committee’s membership criteria outlined in its Terms of Reference. They are:

• Bruce Robinson – Chartered engineer with a Masters of Business Administration and a Graduate Diploma in Financial Management, with water and wastewater experience – admin@onstream.net.au
  
  
• Alan Pigott – Director of Tweed Regional Art Gallery Foundation Ltd and member of Friends of the Tweed Regional Art Gallery and Margaret Olley Arts Centre. Degrees in Law and Business (Public Sector Administration), extensive experience in local and state government including Premiers and Cabinet, and member of several Audit Risk and Advisory Committees for local government – aphastingspointww@yahoo.com
  
  
• Kenneth Rippin – Civil engineer with 40 years’ experience in water and wastewater, including major WWTP upgrades at Geelong, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and assessing environmental impacts of wastewater discharges – kenrippin2@gmail.com
  
  
• Harry Hartman – Member of Tweed Coast Alliance Technical Committee and Cabarita Beach and Pottsville Beach Lions. Civil Engineer with 40 years’ experience and a Masters of Business Administration, experienced with Tier 1 contractors and alliance contracts delivering water and wastewater projects in Australia and overseas – hpwtp.hartman@gmail.com
  
  
• Trish Chadwick – Member of Tweed Valley Wildlife Rescue, Wildcare Australia (QLD) and Australian Seabird and Turtle Rescue (Ballina). Ecologist with a Bachelor of Science, with knowledge and experience in river systems, wetlands and associated environments and habitats – trishchad8@gmail.com

The committee also includes 4 Council representatives and an independent chair appointed by the NSW Government.

Thanks to all community members who expressed interest in joining the committee.

What’s next?

Since late 2025, external contractors BECA Hunter H20 have been carrying out additional assessments (including an environmental assessment) and concept design works for Options 4 and 5. Throughout this period, the Project Consultative Committee have met regularly and provided feedback on how the options are assessed (including criteria for assessment and the relevant importance of each criteria).

In May 2026, BECA Hunter H20 will present the draft options assessment and concept designs to the Consultative Committee for feedback.

BECA Hunter H20 will then finalise the options assessment, and the Consultative Committee’s facilitators will prepare a report that explains the consultation process and summarises the Committee’s feedback.

A report will then be presented to Council in July 2026, recommending a preferred option.

Once Council selects a preferred option, work will begin on finalising the concept design, reviewing environmental impacts and determining any planning or other government agency approvals needed. This stage is expected to take place from August 2026 – August 2027.

Once these steps are complete and approvals are in place, the project will move to detailed design, contractor procurement and construction. This work is projected for September 2027 – December 2029.