Locals decided to act when drinks company Norlex Holdings announced plans to tap an underground reservoir in the town, truck the water up to Sydney and then send it back in bottles.

Its cropping season does not clash with other crops, and it requires only two rounds of irrigation, which farmers in small land holdings with little access to water can manage.

The Ukrainian used an offshore company called Water Property Holdings to buy the flat, which covers the top three floors in the Richard Rogers designed complex next to Knightsbridge.