Western Water and City West Water will integrate next year to support the needs of a rapidly expanding area west of Melbourne.
The new water corporation, Greater Western Water, will be better placed to meet the growing demand for services and infrastructure to support a population expected to double over the next 30 years.
The Victorian Government will invest $500,000 in upgrades to convert Western Water’s Sunbury office into a Greater Western Water hub.
There will be no job losses as staff move to the new water corporation, which will also create jobs and reduce household water bills into the future.
An additional 50 staff will be based at Sunbury over the next three years.
Western Water managing director Jeff Rigby said the pace of urban growth in Melbourne’s west required a new approach to keep up with demand for water and sewerage services.
“Western Water and City West Water have been working together for some time, sharing resources and investigating opportunities that reduce business costs, and ultimately prices for our customers,” Mr Rigby said.
“The decision to integrate has not been taken lightly and we have worked hard with the Victorian Government to find this solution, which is in the best interests of our customers and our teams.”
City West Water managing director Maree Lang said the move was a positive step forward for the region, which would cover an area of 3700 square kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD and inner west and north-west suburbs out to communities including Werribee, Bacchus Marsh and Macedon Ranges townships.
“The integration will lead to strong service outcomes, more secure water availability and high quality and more affordable water services for customers living and working in these communities,” Ms Lang said.
“It’s also an opportunity for our people, with Greater Western Water retaining all staff from both water corporations, and new job opportunities to support an expected 100,000 new customers over the next 10 years.”
City West Water, with its head office based in Footscray, provides water supply and sewerage services to more than 1.1 million residential and 42,000 business customers.
Western Water, with its head office based in Sunbury, supplies water and sewerage services to more than 80,000 properties, or about 185,000 customers. Both corporate offices will remain, along with all other depots and offices of the two corporations.
The integration will take effect from July 1, 2021.
