The NSW government was warned by its own bureaucrats more than five years ago that reliable water supply in parts of the state could plunge by a third, with the situation now so dire that some of the largest regional towns face being left with no water within the next year.

The warnings were contained in a draft paper, Assuring Future Urban Water Security, which was dated December 2013 and commissioned by the Department of Primary Industries.

“This business case should never have been kept from the public,” says Barwon MP Roy Butler. 

Today after a three-year battle, repeated calls from the community and Members of Parliament the Government has passed on a copy of the business case for the Broken Hill pipeline project.  

“For years the community called for transparency around the pipeline project and the Government didn’t deliver.

“Restricting information on the expenditure of public money, or projects affecting local communities does nothing to build trust in government,” said Mr Butler. 

Moree distance university students now have a dedicated space they can go to study, work on assessments and complete exams, with the Country Universities Centre (CUC) North West now open for business.

The CUC North West, which has a site in Moree and one in Narrabri, was opened to students on July 8, and already 35 people have registered to use the facility - a one-stop shop with all the resources local students need to successfully complete their degrees.

The Moree site features a computer room, lecture room, meeting space and a fully-equipped kitchen, and is complete with wifi, computers, printers, photocopiers, and video conferencing technology.

A MAN has died in a quad bike accident near Wee Waa at the weekend.

The man, believed to be aged about 60, died on Sunday morning on a property off Pilliga Road.

Ambulance NSW confirmed two units, as well as the Westpac Rescue Helicopter from Tamworth, were tasked after a triple zero phone call at 11.20am.

Walgett residents have a supermarket again after a temporary outlet opened its doors on Tuesday.

The town's permanent IGA was destroyed by fire in June, which left Walgett without a supermarket for the second time in six years.

Western NSW Minister Adam Marshall said the supermarket will resume its normal 8:30am-6pm trading hours after a successful trial run on the weekend.

Two people have been seriously injured after a two-vehicle crash on the Kamilaroi Highway south of Narrabri overnight.

About 8.20pm yesterday (Friday 9 August 2019), a 73-year-old woman was traveling north on the Kamilaroi Highway, about 20km south of Narrabri when her 4WD and a southbound utility collided.

The woman, and the 42-year-old man driving the ute, suffered serious injuries, both were airlifted to Tamworth Hospital where they remain in critical but stable condition.

The sales come amid the $300 million offering of cotton giant Auscott's Midkin aggregation in the Gwydir Valley and with expectations of a smaller cotton crop next year due to the drought.

At 275 Spring Plains Road, Wire Lagoon, a 738 hectare irrigated cotton farm 15 kilometres from Wee Waa has changed hands for $11.4 million.

The Liberal-National Government has denied regional communities the opportunity for transparency, voting down a motion for a Royal Commission into the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. 

The motion introduced by the Shadow Minister for Water, Clayton Barr to Parliament last night called on the Liberal-National Government to “endorse the position of the NSW National Party Leader and Deputy Premier for a Royal Commission into the Murray Darling Basin Plan for the purpose of openness, transparency and accountability”.

The motion was defeated by three votes (47-44), with Labor and the crossbench voting for it with and The Nationals joining the Liberals to defeat it.

As every year passes, trends involving fitness training change. And as 2019 continues it is clear that a new set of fitness training trends are set to explode.

People who never would have dared to say the word 'fitness' are now jumping onboard thanks to the following exciting fitness trends of 2019.

Member for Barwon, Roy Butler is calling on the NSW Government to commit to an inquiry into aspects of New South Wales water management and their impacts on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

Mr Butler’s call for an independent inquiry comes after consultation with communities, irrigators, graziers, towns, water researchers and ecologists, all of whom raised serious concerns about government decision making in relation to water management.

“I’m calling for an inquiry to restore public confidence, and identify how certain decisions contributed to the current conditions in western NSW,” said Mr Butler. 

“I have discussed the inquiry with Minister Pavey and provided her with the draft Terms of Reference. In our conversation, I emphasised that this inquiry is needed to restore the public’s confidence in the NSW water planning and management processes.