Time, salt air and harsh coastal conditions have taken their toll on a small sewer pump station on the hill leading to Yamba’s Convent Beach and it is to be demolished. At a meeting of the Clarence Valley Council last week, councillors allocated funds for the removal of the existing pump station and gravity reticulation network and its replacement with a pressure sewer system. The estimated cost is between $450,000 and $500,000. In his report to council, water cycle manager, Greg Mashiah, said the existing station was built in 1972 and the stairs leading to it had been used for public access to Convent Beach, but landslips and severe weather events had damaged the stairs and they were closed to the public in 2016. He said the existing gravity sewer line, pump station and associated infrastructure could be repaired, but because of site access difficulties it was hard to calculate how much those repairs would cost. “A gravity sewer line located on the rock shelf presents an ongoing environmental risk if it should fail,” he said. Funds for the replacement will come from the sewer reserve.