Canberra's golf clubs have been granted discounts on water abstraction charges after the ACT government agreed to take into account water savings infrastructure installed on courses when calculating the fee.
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The in-principle agreement means the government would apply the Competition Equalisation Scheme to water charges, allowing ACT clubs to compete with cross-border clubs not required to pay the same level of fee.
ClubsACT chief executive Jeff House said the charge would have cost clubs up to $50,000 a year.
''The WAC on surface water would have been a significant additional expense for golf clubs and was simply a charge for using water from their own dams,'' Mr House said.
''We are very pleased the ACT government listened to our arguments against this impost, providing solutions that will unburden not-for-profit golf clubs from this cost.
''Water charges are already one of the largest expenses for golf clubs and a number of clubs feared this additional expense could have ruined them financially.''
Mr House said Canberra's golf clubs had invested heavily in water saving infrastructure during the past drought to minimise consumption.
Mr House said not-for-profit sporting clubs operate on tight margins and in Canberra clubs were already doing it tough.
''In the ACT the charge for using potable water is $4.86 a kilolitre … more than double the price our neighbours in NSW pay, where the cost is just $2 a kilolitre,'' Mr House said.
''To abstract groundwater, a NSW user pays $10 a megalitre; by comparison ACT users are charged $250 a megalitre.''
Water Minister Simon Corbell said: ''We recognise that golf clubs aren't just an employer, but they provide important social and recreational amenity and visual amenity,'' Mr Corbell said.
''It's been a really productive discussion and I'm pleased we've been able to extend a helping hand to the clubs and recognise the important role they make to the community.''