The decision to invite more tenders for the project was made by councillors at Wednesday’s June Gunnedah Shire Council meeting.

Along with the decision to seek more tenders, councillors also approved a redesign of the proposed upgrade to alter the new facility’s life span from 80-years to 50-years.

Cr Rob Hooke told The Namoi Valley Independent the redesign was necessary.

“There were two original tenders put in for the upgrade but they were deemed unsuitable for cost reasons and thus lead to us reopening the tender process,” Cr Hooke said.

“A redesign of the perimeters and specifications of the new reservoir should see more tenders come in and hopefully see the cost be more suitable as well.”

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Cr Hooke said council would push to begin the project as soon as possible.

“Simply put it’s a necessary piece of infrastructure,” he said.

“I think it’s critical for the Mullaley community it be done as soon as possible.”

Council initially inherited the existing reservoir from Liverpool Plains Shire Council following the amalgamation with Gunnedah Municipal Council in 1980.

Deputy mayor Gae Swain echoed Cr Hooke’s comments at Wednesday’s council meeting.

“It seems like a common sense project to me,” Cr Sawin said.

“Judging by the looks of the current reservoir it seems like about time we did give it an upgrade.”

A tender closure is yet to be set.