Chapter 20 - Utilities 20.0 Utilities 20.1 Introduction Utilities form an essential part of community infrastructure. Utilities must be maintained and developed in order to contribute to the health and safety, and social, cultural and economic wellbeing of the community. Most communities are unsustainable without the provision of water supply, drainage, sewage disposal, energy and communications. Reticulated provision of essential utilities enhances the efficient use of natural and physical resources, and enables consistent management of adverse environmental effects of human settlement. Utilities include: • Energy, electricity lines, cables, pylons, receivers, transmitters, substations; • Telecommunication and radio communication, lines, cables, masts, antennas, dishes, aerials, microwave towers, telephone booths; • Water, collection and distribution structures, water supply catchments, water pipes, open drains, irrigation channels, stock water races, reservoirs, treatment plants; • Stormwater collection and removal facilities, pipes, pumping stations, treatment plants, ponds; • Sewage collection structures, pipes, pumping stations, treatment plants, ponds; • Air, land and water navigation aids and beacons; • Trig stations and survey marks; • Street lighting structures and traffic direction and control devices; and • Road and rail networks. 20.2 Issue Adverse environmental effects resulting from the establishment, maintenance and operation of utility networks necessary to sustain communities. There are three main reasons why particular provision is being made for utilities. These reasons are: • Utility networks provide services, such as water and electricity, that are essential to the health and safety of the community; • Reticulated and integrated utility provision is essential to avoid cumulative adverse effects of settlements on the environment; and • Utility networks require an integrated and comprehensive infrastructure which treats them as whole units rather than addressing their individual parts. The maintenance and development of utility networks can have adverse land stability, water quality and visual effects. Some utility network structures, such as transmitters and masts, need to be sited in prominent positions in the landscape in order to fulfill their function. The essential nature of utility services, the specificity of site 20 - 1