Gas a natural, MPs to be told

By Danielle Galvin
THE Kooweerup Township Committee will meet members of Parliament to discuss the feasibility of a natural gas supply for the township.
The Gas for Kooweerup sub-committee has set up a meeting with Greg Hunt, the Federal Liberal MP for Flinders, and Ken Smith, the State Liberal MP for Bass, on 19 August.
Natural gas has been on the township committee’s radar for more than nine years.
Vice-president Ray Brown said he was determined to see the changeover and reduce the swamp’s carbon footprint. He said he was confident the change in government would help the cause. “The Liberal Government has committed to a feasibility study. They didn’t give us a date but they did promise it prior to the election,” he said.
The committee has undertaken three separate surveys to gauge whether or not the community would connect to natural gas if it was available.
Mr Smith’s office conducted a survey in May 2010, releasing the results the month after.
“They sent out 700 survey forms and had 345 people return them, which was a good number,” Mr Brown said. “Of them, 230 people are using LPG and 322 respondents would connect to natural gas in the first year if it was available to them.”
The rising cost of gas and electricity was a major concern to the community group, Mr Brown said.
“Switching to natural gas is a no-brainer,” he said. “Reducing our carbon footprint is one of the reasons it’s important. The State Government has classified Kooweerup as a low socio-economic town.”
Mr Brown hopes that the feasibility study by the State Government will be a positive move in the right direction for Kooweerup.
“What would be a good thing is if they did a feasibility study and found that it was viable,” he said. “Then we could look into getting grants to fund it.”