Unifying Hawkesbury-Nepean River Management

0:00Hills Shire Mayor Dr. Michelle Byrne is pushing hard for a single authority to manage the Hawksbury Neapian River system around Sydney's West and North. Right now, 13 agencies and eight councils share the job, creating total chaos on everything from water quality to river health. Take a tree that falls in the water, residents call about it, but nobody owns the fix and it sits there for a year. The area's high flood risk makes it worse, especially after those brutal floods from 2020 to 2022, and past setups like the old, catchment management authority got scrapped back in 2013. Byrne says it's all care, no responsibility, with agencies like Water NSW and the Environment Protection Authority pointing fingers. Meanwhile, other mayors are on board. Blacktown's Brad Bunting wants a clear lead agency and Hornsby's Warren Woodell-Backs shared frameworks for. Consist their results. NSW Water Minister Rose Jackson gets the frustration and points to their $1.7 million NSW water quality

1:06governance roadmap. Reforms are wrapping up soon, with big changes rolling out in the second half of this year to pull everyone together. This push for unity could finally get the river flowing right, cutting the confusion and boosting protection for communities at risk. Put in the news today, powered by AI bringing you what matters.