Melbourne Water (MW) and ALDE meet on a regular basis to discuss the needs of the land development industry and our membership made up of consultants and suppliers. The following outlines some of the discussion from our recent Urban Development Water Advisory Group (UDWAG) Technical meeting (keeping in mind the current caretaker period limits what can be discussed and agreed).
DELWP Guidelines for Development in Flood Affected Areas
There is a discrepancy between the DELWP Flood Guidelines and the Melbourne Water LDM regarding the VxD values accepted. Melbourne Water has provided feedback to DELWP on the difference and asked for clarification and an update of the Guidelines to reflect that. While the Guidelines are being reviewed by DELWP, Melbourne Water have indicated that the DELWP Guidelines are the most recent and most up to date document. They should therefore be the primary source of guidance. Where these guidelines and expectations are difficult to meet on a project, direct negotiation with Melbourne Water is recommended.
Melbourne Water response times
Melbourne Water are looking for opportunities to streamline their processes and shorten their response times. They are going to release further communication around this in the near future however we have some preliminary advice.
If the development project lends itself to a change in the drainage scheme, its best to start discussion with Melbourne Water ahead of the permit process to negotiate the best outcome.
Melbourne Water recommend the following steps:
- Apply for pre-dev advice using the online portal
- Once received, if the scheme and advice presented needs to vary (ie you have a more innovative solution, the scheme has an error, other valid reason) then you should request a Pre-Development Meeting with MW. To do this email devconnect@melbournewater.com.au with the MWA number from the pre-dev advice email asking for a Pre-Development Meeting. MW have indicated that a meeting should occur within 2 weeks from the requested date. Due to the high volume of work, all meetings will be via Teams or Zoom.
- During the meeting you can highlight your concerns with the scheme and discuss an alternative solution (or two). MW will outline what reports/costings/justification they will need in order to change the scheme as proposed.
- The reports can then be developed and prepared for submission. Given the complexity of most projects of this nature, the pre-dev MWA number may expire and a new MWA number may be required upon submission. Always reference the pre-development advice number in the new submission to tie the two activities together.
- MW will then review the application ahead of the permit based
Project Escalation inside Melbourne Water
Another great tip highlighted in the meeting was that all email signatures at Melbourne Water include an escalation manager. Whilst we always encourage direct discussion with the assigned officer at Melbourne Water, if you feel the need to escalate your concern, now you can easily see the person you need to speak to next. Remember email addresses at Melbourne water are FirstName.LastName@melbournewater.com.au
