Quarterly Solutions Newsletter - 5 December 2011

quarterly solutions major developer and major customer newsletter

the year in review meet our new managing director behind the scenes

integrated support for our development partners

improvements to developer services

straightforward processes

hunter water corporation ISSUE 5 December 2011

contents

Message from the Managing Director . . . 2

In the news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Constructive contact. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

In the works. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Behind the scenes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5

collaborative spirit fosters development partnerships From the perspective of Hunter Water Managing Director, Kim Wood Last month I started at Hunter Water as Managing Director and I’m excited to be joining an organisation so highly regarded in the water industry.

Maintaining close alignment with the urban planning and development industry remains a priority for Hunter Water.

In coming years our future cities may begin to look very different to what they do today but the safe and reliable provision of water and wastewater services will be a critical component of sustainable urban planning. Maintaining close alignment with the urban planning and development industry remains a priority for Hunter Water as we continue to adapt to meet the challenges facing the water and development industries.

During 2011 we worked hard to forge constructive partnerships with our commercial customers and encourage our early engagement in planning processes.

Among notable projects that progressed this year is the Williamtown Aerospace Park, a development of prime industrial land adjacent to the RAAF Base Williamtown and Newcastle Airport. We are working with developer Hunter Land on the connection of this development to the proposed Williamtown to Raymond Terrace Wastewater Transfer Scheme.

Also this year, we collaborated with Northbank Enterprise Hub Pty Ltd who is developing the WesTrac National Headquarters and an additional 71 hectares of conventional industrial subdivision to the south of Tomago Road, Tomago. We worked with the developer to prepare a water and sewer servicing strategy that includes a guaranteed connection date to the proposed Williamtown to Raymond Terrace Wastewater Transfer Scheme.

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We are also currently working with developers on the provision of water and sewerage infrastructure to proposed residential developments at Kings Hill, Anambah and Lochinvar to ensure water and sewerage infrastructure is available to these developments as they proceed.

Our customer and commercial teams along with many others at Hunter Water strive to make customers the very centre of our business and I am very proud to be joining such a talented group of people. The year ahead will see us continue to build on existing customer relationships and see new working collaborations formed.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our major clients the very best for the Christmas season and I look forward to meeting you at our next Developer Forum in 2012.

Kim Wood Managing Director Hunter Water Corporation

constructive contact

Senior Account Executive Malcolm Withers in action with members from Business & Planning Support, Anthony Gentle and Wesley Jones

from the perspective of account manager Malcolm Withers We made time to meet with each of our major development customers during the year to discuss their individual plans and priorities and determine the best way for Hunter Water to support developer needs.

Some very constructive input and valuable insight was gained as a result of knowledge exchanged at these meetings. In many cases, this has the potential to contribute to significant time and cost saving outcomes for our developer customers.

Understanding the demands on developers has enabled Hunter Water to respond with greater flexibility. For example, we may take a more risk based approach by assessing generation of demand on our water and sewerage systems at the time of occupancy rather than the subdivision of land. Staging the provision of works where possible can assist with easing developer cash flow challenges.

Overall, the allocation of account managers to handle developer interests, not only on immediate project challenges but on a broader strategy perspective, has been extremely well received.

We will continue to meet with major developers and customers on a regular basis, and we encourage developers to involve us early in future planning discussion to make the process as seamless as possible.

This year we also increased communication with the Urban Development Institute of Australia and will continue to promote two way communication with this key stakeholder group as we strive toward a fully integrated planning approach.

thanks for your ongoing involvement in 2011.

We wish you a safe and rewarding Christmas break and look forward to working with you toward continued success in the new year.

for the diary march 2012 developer forum Our annual developer forum will be held in late March next year with more details to come in February 2012.

While we are planning for this event we would be grateful for your input.

Please email any topics or issues you would like to see incorporated into the panel discussion to: forumsrsvp@hunterwater.com.au or alternatively advise your account manager.

In line with this year’s requests, we will continue to allow time for networking and the opportunity this provides to speak face-to-face with our planning and management teams, both before and after the panel discussion.

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behind the scenes

on development projects

We urge developers and commercial customers to maintain open dialogue with their account manager as early as possible in the planning process.

The more we understand about your future plans, the greater flexibility we have in determining and delivering superior project solutions that are developed in partnership with you.

in 2012 we will continue to focus on direct involvement in the planning process of our development customers.

Our account managers are the primary point of contact for our commercial customers but behind the scenes they work alongside dedicated teams with a range of expertise to bring to your projects.

Where necessary, we can also leverage our industry leadership to interface with industry authorities and regulatory bodies on behalf of our development partners.

more direct input from Business and Planning Support

As our tailored support for major development and commercial customers continues to grow, in this edition of Quarterly Solutions we take a look at our Business and Planning Support team and some of the recent changes.

Our Business and Planning Support team have increased their involvement in commercial project planning sessions charged with providing practical and technical advice to our development partners and internal teams working on the servicing of large developments.

We encourage developers to take the opportunity to meet more of our management and team leaders at our annual developer forum, coming up again in March 2012.

In our delivery of operational and capital upgrade strategies for the water and wastewater network, treatment plants and recycled water schemes, we strive for sustainable solutions that meet development needs while satisfying environmental regulatory standards and corporate business objectives.

The Business and Planning Support team liaises with local government and the Department of Planning and Infrastructure to develop an understanding of population growth in our region and with the Office of Environment and Heritage on licence issues relevant to upgrades to the wastewater system.

We will continue our focus of direct involvement in the development planning process throughout 2012 enabling us to make the best long term decisions and provide direction on infrastructure that balances developer and stakeholder needs with regulatory requirements and sustainability factors.

Senior Account Executive, Malcolm Withers

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Introducing new Team Leader Business Planning & Support, Kirby Morrison

new planning team leader Leading our planning team into the New Year will be Kirby Morrison who will replace Madhu Pudasaini as our Team Leader of Business and Planning Support, within the System Planning group.

Next year marks Kirby’s 10th year with Hunter Water and he brings important frontline experience to the role. For the past five years Kirby has worked with our Wastewater Treatment Planning team, managing major works upgrade strategies and design projects. He has also worked for several years with our Customers and Commercial Development team, managing the engineering design review and approval process for developer works.

“Driven by Madhu’s commitment, the team have made some great progress representing the interests of regional development at stakeholder forums and in higher level planning over the past 12 months,” said Kirby.

“My priority moving forward will be to continue to work closely with the account managers in supporting our development partners and ensuring close integration of our capital works program with the needs of the development community.”

Ensuring that our wastewater treatment works have sufficient capacity to cater for growth while minimising impacts on the receiving environment is a key focus for the team moving forward.

Technical Process Leader Barry Calderwood in action with fellow team members

improvements to developer services Our Developer Services team manage the process of design assessment for reticulation systems for Hunter Water infrastructure and provide an interface with the account managers on development industry projects. Resources have been committed during the year to reviewing and simplifying internal processes in order to deliver timely output to developers.

In response to developer feedback, extensive data analysis was undertaken to identify ways to improve turn-around times. The resulting changes have been implemented over the past 12 months to significantly increase timely outcomes on development applications.

“Working closely with the account managers who are dealing directly with major development customers enables us to monitor how well our business model is performing at any given time,” said Barry Calderwood, Technical Process Leader.

Constructive change in 2011 started with a review of our minor works contract and development of a new template that is straight forward and user-friendly. The new template was distributed to accredited designers in November 2011 and we are now inviting developer feedback via your account manager.

constructive change commenced in 2011 with simplifying our minor works contract and will continue in 2012.

“As a whole, communication between the teams dedicated to developer interests is strengthening for the benefit of our customers,” said Barry.

The introduction of account managers has created a constructive arena for round-table discussion and cross-communication. This has proven productive for the assessment and delivery of development industry projects within reduced turn-around times.

knowledge capture

electronic capability

The unparalleled experience of our seasoned team of water industry specialists is a valuable resource for our development industry partners. To ensure that it remains accessible for the future, we have invested in efficient knowledge capture and management systems.

Strategic planning around electronic transfer of information for the convenience of our development partners will continue to be a priority for Developer Services.

We are formulating the most efficient framework for this future offering with a view to delivery in 2012.

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in the news oceanic coal contract Responding to a growing consensus in the Hunter region for industry and commercial organisations to use recycled water, we have developed a contract with Oceanic Coal.

final stages of GIS delivery We are in the final stages of developing a new Geographical Information System (GIS).

Promising to equip the organisation with improved GIS capability to support future development planning, the system delivers a spatial representation of Hunter Water’s network. The new technology uses a modern GIS framework that is based on extensibility and flexibility, offering complete solutions for modelling, maintenance and management of land-based information for Hunter Water.

On track to go live in early 2012, the new GIS will provide a firm foundation for future geospatial needs, consistent with our commitment to integrating more effectively with the development industry.

win-win outcome on Cliftleigh collaboration

Effective from October 2011, the contract specifies a five year term for supply of recycled water for coal washing purposes.

The new agreement provides considerable economic and environmental advantages for both Oceanic Coal and Hunter Water.

Oceanic Coal’s proximity to our Edgeworth Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) presents an ideal scenario for servicing the supply.

“This contract contributes to conserving our region’s valuable drinking water supplies while providing the customer with a reliable quantity of water and reducing the amount of recycled water entering our local waterways,” said Account Manager Jane Brownette.

A recent upgrade of the Edgeworth WWTW means Oceanic Coal will receive improved water quality.

Our collaboration with Winten Property Group around the supply of water and sewer services for their 900 lot residential sub division at Cliftleigh resulted in mutually beneficial outcomes.

Confronted with insufficient capacity in our network to service the proposed level of development, interim measures were identified to provide capacity to an initial 188 lots. Once exhausted, substantial upgrades to the network would be required.

Due to the extent of upgrades required, Winten Property Group was keen to explore any opportunity that would allow interim capacity to increase.

Our planning team’s involvement in the strategy phase of discussions with Winten Property Group enabled us to identify a workable solution. This solution involved decommissioning the Cliftleigh 2 Wastewater Pump Station, which was able to drain to the proposed pump station within the development site.

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meeting growth demand at lochinvar We have brought forward major upgrade works to meet the demands of new residential growth at Lochinvar.

In October, the NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure approved the rezoning of approximately 650 hectares of rural land in Lochinvar. This represents up to 5,000 new housing lots with supporting commercial development and recreation facilities.

To accommodate this development, we have scheduled major trunk water infrastructure upgrades for completion in 2012. This will supply the significant residential growth of the Maitland to Branxton corridor.

We have also escalated the major upgrade of Maitland 14 Wastewater Pumping Station in response to the rezoning approval.

Thorough investigations undertaken in conjunction with Winten Property Group revealed some potential cost saving and energy efficiency advantages for Hunter Water by reducing the number of stations required to be operated.

A joint funding arrangement was established to ensure the project was viable. Decommissioning released capacity constraints in the wastewater network, allowing the interim cap for the development to be increased.

The partnership solution enabled Winten Property Group to defer a major pump station and rising main upgrade, easing major upfront capital outlay and providing them additional time to sell lots and generate capital.

in the works

Removal of ABF Tower Roof

successful community collaboration delivers ABF tower works The Activated Bio-Filter (ABF) Tower media replacement component of our Burwood Beach Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) upgrade was a unique undertaking that succeeded as a result of comprehensive planning, community consultation and teamwork. Potentially high risk elements of the project were delivered without any environmental incidents or community impact and the substantial upgrade is now near completion.

This outcome was achieved by the Hunter Treatment Alliance, a well-established partnership between Hunter Water, Abigroup and CH2M Hill, working in close consultation with stakeholders and the local community.

Community engagement was undertaken to provide clear and accurate information to the community, key stakeholders and local interest groups while ensuring realistic expectations of the possible impacts of the works. The final component of the Stage 2 WWTW upgrade involved the removal and replacement of the media in the ABF Tower which is part of the secondary treatment process.

Installed around 20 years ago, the ABF Tower operated without a roof for a short period of time, prompting complaints of increased odours from the surrounding community and necessitating installation of a roof to contain the odours.

To prevent potential increase in odours during upgrade works, a trial shutdown in August 2011 and a six week flushing regime was carried out to reduce the biomass before the ABF Tower roof was removed.

Hunter Water and Hunter Treatment Alliance staff worked 24 hour shifts for a three week period to ensure that the media was removed from the ABF Tower and the Burwood WWTW site as quickly as possible with limited impact on local residents.

Following a seamless project delivery, the upgrade has significantly improved effluent quality and operational performance while providing additional processing capacity to cater for population growth.

boulder bay upgrade complete in time for holiday influx Our $25.5 million Stage 2 upgrade to the Boulder Bay Wastewater Treatment Works has been completed in time for the expected arrival of summer visitors to the Port Stephens area.

The major upgrade has increased the plant’s capacity by over 13,000 people to better manage the increase in flows during the peak holiday periods and cater for future population growth in the area, including tourism peaks, until at least 2017.

The upgrade was undertaken as part of our unprecedented $700 million capital works program. It will provide supply for the seasonal spike in population to the Tomaree Peninsula while improving the quality of the treated effluent and ensuring efficient treatment processes.

The treatment works services the catchment of Anna Bay, Boat Harbour, Salamander Bay, Soldiers Point, Dutchman’s Beach, Nelson Bay, Shoal Bay and Fingal Bay. Planning and development will continue for the Stage 3 upgrade, which will provide the plant’s longer-term sustainable strategy to cater for population growth on the Tomaree Peninsula to 2030.

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