A Greens party member in New South Wales has unleashed on a plan to build a desalination plant in the Hunter Valley, saying increased water prices would place a big burden on taxpayers.

The desalination plant has been proposed as a measure to mitigate for future flooding in the region, but local Greens MP John Kaye says it should only be built when it is needed.

“It has to be the most extreme drought before anybody should even talk about desalination,” Mr Kaye said, “while they make sensible long-term emergency plans, the problem is politicians panic when a drought comes on and build them too early.”

Mr Kaye’s comment came after the release of the drought-proofing plans in the Lower Hunter Water Plan discussion paper, which reportedly includes several other options.

NSW finance and services minister Andrew Constance said residents will be given the opportunity to make up their minds on the future for drought-planning in the Hunter region at public workshops this week.

“Part of the reason for the discussion paper and the community consultation is to put all options on the table which are practical,” Mr Constance said, “...that means that considering everything from inter-region transfers to desal through to water management strategies at a local level and desal mightn't necessarily be the answer... the point here is we want the input from the community.”