Thursday, April 30, 2009

High Front Gutters- What is all the fuss!

On the 14th April Shoalhaven City Council passed an unanimous motion in support of checking for failure of slotted high front guttering in new projects and issue a newsletter to the relevant building services to warn of the failure of some versions of this product.

so whats it all about?

Sylvia Hale Greens MLC has been working to expose the inadequacy of some of the slotted high front gutter available in the market. The failure of this product has seen some houses suffering from severe water damage.

High front guttering has been a product favoured by the building industry over the last 10 years, it helps to give a neat finish to the edge of the roof and when installed correctly is a useful product. Slots have been cut to help allow extra water to escape the gutter in a big rain event- but these for the most part just simply don't work, add internal gutter brackets that give the streamlined look and you end up with a product that is difficult to clean.

The product needs to be installed with fall allowing the water to run down hill.
A gap behind the gutter that allows any overflowing water to escape- but not into the house.
Gutters should not have low spots where water sits for long periods of time!

If excess water flows over the top of these gutters on the building side it can make its way into the structures cavity. Some homes have experienced structural damage to soft-wood frames which don't cope with long periods of moisture- an expensive thing to fix.

Moral to the story-buy a good quality product, have it installed by a qualified trades person. Clean gutters on a regular basis, check for low spots with water lying in it.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Water Rates to Increase

Last nights Council meeting seen a long debate in regards to the increase in water rates.

Shoalhaven residents currently spend $1.00 per kilolitre for under 405kl, ranking us at approx third cheapest in the state.

A rise to $1.45 per Kl will see the average bill rise by less than $2.00 per week or about the same price as a small bottle of water.

I support this move to increase water use charges as in my opinion it will give a more valued price for this precious natural asset, and have all users think about water consumption and saving.

Shoalhavens water is supplied by the Shoalhaven River in the North and Porters Creek Damm in the South.

The Shoalhaven River has a significant Oyster industry within its waters which for the last few years has suffered from the lack of environmnetal flow as Sydney drew water from the catchment for its day to day use. The practice recently stopped ( to justify the need for the de-sal plant) and gives us the opportunity to have some health return to the river system.

With a rise in residential use charges we should see a drop in consumption which will ensure more water for the river and the natural systems that depend on fresh water inflow.

Having a water reserve fund set aside for future asset renewal makes our cities water supply safe from mechanical failure. But we will have to deal with less rainfall as the effects of climate change are felt.

Shelter to Close it doors as letter requesting more rentals goes out.

Salt Care - follow link to see their services  I received the sad news that our local homeless shelter needs to close it's doors on Sund...