Strategic Business Plan: Water Supply and Sewerage Services · Strategic Business Plan: Water Supply and Sewerage Services Draft for Public Exhibition - 1.22, August 2011 Collaborative

Brewarrina Shire Council

Strategic Business Plan: Water

Supply and Sewerage Services

Draft for Public Exhibition - 1.22

September 2010, updated August 2011


Strategic Business Plan: Water Supply and Sewerage Services

Draft for Public Exhibition - 1.22, August 2011

Collaborative Planning and Engineering Associates D:\Data\Consulting\Brewarrina SC\WS SBP\Outputs\201108 Exhibition\Strategic Business Plan Exhibition Draft 1.22.docx 3

&

Alf Grigg

Associates

This report is Copyright ©2011 MC Environmental Consulting. Unauthorised

copying and distribution of this document is not permitted. Licence to print

and/or distribute this report is granted to Brewarrina Shire Council subject to the

document being printed or distributed in full, and provided that the proposed use

is consistent with the stated objectives of the report.

This document has been prepared for a particular purpose, using information

made available by the client in accordance with the client’s instructions. Users of

this document should note the assumptions and approximations used. Any use of

the document outside of the stated purpose is at the user’s risk.

This document has been prepared in collaboration with Alf Grigg and Associates,

and Phil Hawley and Associates.

Michael Cuthbert, Alf Grigg and Phil Hawley are directors of Collaborative

Planning and Engineering Associates:

CPE Associates

PO Box 3009

Nowra North NSW 2541

www.cpeassociates.com.au

[email protected]

http://www.cpeassociates.com.au/




Collaborative Planning and Engineering Associates

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Executive Summary

Strategic Business Plans are intended to govern the long term operation of business entities within local

councils. These plans form a companion to a council’s Community Strategic Planning framework,

which detail the proposed priorities of the council over the relatively short timeframe of three to ten

years.

This plan is designed to assist in the operation of Brewarrina Shire Council’s water supply and sewerage

businesses.

This strategic business plan addresses the long-term operation of the business by:

Considering the current operating environment of the business

Reviewing the current capability of the business to provide services to the community, and

proposing a future level of service

Reviewing the adequacy of the current asset base to provide the current and proposed future

levels of service, and identify upgrades necessary to achieve the future level of service.

Reviewing the human and financial resources required for the business to perform

Identifying performance indicators to track progress against the objectives of the business.

Brewarrina Shire Council operates the second-smallest public water supply business in NSW. The small

customer base, combined with the remoteness of the local government area, presents the business with

significant challenges compared to most water utilities. As a consequence Brewarrina Shire Council

performs relatively poorly compared to other water and sewerage utilities in NSW. Brewarrina Shire is

one of the most socioeconomically deprived areas of NSW, meaning this poor level of service adds to

this deprivation.

This Strategic Business Plan has been prepared on the assumption that Council will not have access to

capital works grants for renewals or any recurrent operating subsidy, consistent with the current

guidelines for NSW Government programmes. This has led to the conclusion that Council will struggle

to maintain the current low level of service, let alone provide a comparable service to most other

centres.

The key issues needing to be addressed by the businesses are:

Developing relationships with the Lower Macquarie Water Utilities Alliance;

Transitioning charges to a two-part tariff structure;

Investigating the feasibility of decommissioning of the raw water supply to minimise cost

increases to customers;

Implementing condition assessment and preventative maintenance programmes;

Identifying new sources of revenue to assist its operations.

A summary of the key actions and targets proposed by this plan are provided in Appendix A.





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Contents

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................... i 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 7

1.1 Purpose of this Plan .............................................................................................................................. 7 1.2 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Disclaimer .............................................................................................................................................. 8

2. Operating Environment Review ............................................................................................................. 13 2.1 History of the water supply and sewerage services in Brewarrina Shire ........................................ 13 2.2 Legislative framework ........................................................................................................................ 13 2.3 Corporate mission, policy and objectives ......................................................................................... 15

2.3.1 2010-2012 Management Plan ................................................................................................. 15 2.3.2 Policies ....................................................................................................................................... 15

3. Levels of Service ................................................................................................................................... 16 3.1 Comparative performance ................................................................................................................. 16

3.1.1 Consideration of poorly ranked items ...................................................................................... 16 3.2 Service availability .............................................................................................................................. 17

3.2.1 Performance .............................................................................................................................. 17 3.2.2 Future targets ............................................................................................................................ 17

3.3 Service quality .................................................................................................................................... 17 3.3.1 Performance .............................................................................................................................. 17 3.3.2 Future targets ............................................................................................................................ 17

3.4 Response to failures .......................................................................................................................... 18 3.4.1 Performance .............................................................................................................................. 18 3.4.2 Future targets ............................................................................................................................ 18

3.5 Response to complaints .................................................................................................................... 19 3.5.1 Performance .............................................................................................................................. 19 3.5.2 Future targets ............................................................................................................................ 19

3.6 Customers with special needs ........................................................................................................... 19 3.6.1 Future targets ............................................................................................................................ 19

3.7 Action plan .......................................................................................................................................... 19 4. Service Delivery .................................................................................................................................... 24

4.1 Current service delivery regime ......................................................................................................... 24 4.2 Options for alternate delivery ............................................................................................................ 24

4.2.1 Contracting ................................................................................................................................. 24 4.2.2 Sharing of resources with other LMWUA members ................................................................. 25

4.3 Action plan .......................................................................................................................................... 25 5. Customer Service Plan .......................................................................................................................... 26

5.1 Objective ............................................................................................................................................. 26 5.2 Community consultation .................................................................................................................... 26

5.2.1 Aboriginal community ................................................................................................................ 26 5.3 Availability of services ........................................................................................................................ 27

5.3.1 Current areas serviced .............................................................................................................. 27 5.3.2 Residential areas without access to services .......................................................................... 27

5.4 Pricing of services .............................................................................................................................. 28 5.4.1 Access charges .......................................................................................................................... 28 5.4.2 User charges .............................................................................................................................. 28 5.4.3 Developer charges ..................................................................................................................... 29

5.5 Management of sources and sinks ................................................................................................... 29





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5.5.1 Integrated water cycle management ........................................................................................ 29 5.5.2 Environmental management .................................................................................................... 29 5.5.3 Water .......................................................................................................................................... 30 5.5.4 Sewerage ................................................................................................................................... 30

5.6 Action plan .......................................................................................................................................... 31 6. Asset management plan ....................................................................................................................... 33

6.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 33 6.1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................ 33 6.1.2 Goals and Objectives of Asset Management ........................................................................... 33 6.1.3 Plan Framework ......................................................................................................................... 33

6.2 Lifecycle Management Plan............................................................................................................... 33 6.2.1 Background ................................................................................................................................ 34 6.2.2 Risk Management Plan ............................................................................................................. 38 6.2.3 Routine Maintenance Plan........................................................................................................ 38 6.2.4 Renewal/Replacement Plan ..................................................................................................... 39 6.2.5 Creation/Acquisition /Upgrades Plan ....................................................................................... 40 6.2.6 Disposal Plan ............................................................................................................................. 41

6.3 Asset Management Practices ............................................................................................................ 42 6.3.1 Accounting/Financial Systems ................................................................................................. 42 6.3.2 Asset Management Systems .................................................................................................... 42 6.3.3 Information Flow Requirements and Processes ...................................................................... 43 6.3.4 Standards and Guidelines......................................................................................................... 43

6.4 Action plan .......................................................................................................................................... 43 7. Human resources ................................................................................................................................. 45

7.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 45 7.2 Overview.............................................................................................................................................. 45 7.3 Provision and equipping of personnel............................................................................................... 46

7.3.1 Position Descriptions/Learning Plans ...................................................................................... 46 7.3.2 Human Resources Audit............................................................................................................ 47 7.3.3 Succession Planning ................................................................................................................. 48

7.4 Occupational health and safety ......................................................................................................... 48 7.5 Action plan .......................................................................................................................................... 49

8. Financial plan ....................................................................................................................................... 51 8.1 The purpose of financial planning ..................................................................................................... 51 8.2 Planning approach ............................................................................................................................. 51 8.3 Current Position .................................................................................................................................. 51 8.4 Planning timeframe ............................................................................................................................ 52

8.4.1 Growth forecasts ....................................................................................................................... 52 8.5 Future operating costs ....................................................................................................................... 53 8.6 Financial modelling ............................................................................................................................ 53

8.6.1 Key assumptions ....................................................................................................................... 53 8.6.2 Approximations and adjustments ............................................................................................. 53 8.6.3 Modelling scenarios and constraints ....................................................................................... 54 8.6.4 Water Supply business financial modelling ............................................................................. 54 8.6.5 Sewerage business financial modelling ................................................................................... 60

8.7 Proposed price path ........................................................................................................................... 64 8.8 Further analysis – reconfiguration of the dual supply systems for Brewarrina and Goodooga ..... 65 8.9 Action plan .......................................................................................................................................... 66

9. References ............................................................................................................................................ 67 Appendix A: Summary of key actions and targets .................................................................................... A-1





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Appendix B: Capital Works Plans ............................................................................................................ B-1 Appendix C: Detailed FINMOD Outputs ................................................................................................... C-1 Appendix D: Memo, costing of water supply options for Brewarrina and Goodooga systems, 16 February 2011

D-1

Tables

Table 1: Key Brewarrina Shire Council Policies ................................................................................................. 15 Table 2: Centres of population, population and servicing ................................................................................. 27 Table 3: Water supply attributes (raw and filtered systems)............................................................................. 34 Table 4: Sewerage system attributes ................................................................................................................. 34 Table 5: Census population and dwelling data, 1991 and 2006, Brewarrina Urban Centre ......................... 52 Table 6: Key assumptions and sensitivity tests, Brewarrina ............................................................................. 53 Table 7: Water supply - summary of financial performance of funding options (2010/11 dollars) ............... 55 Table 8: Water supply - sensitivity analysis results (2010/11 dollars) ............................................................ 59 Table 9: Sewerage - summary of financial performance of funding options (2010/11 dollars) .................... 61 Table 10: Sewerage - sensitivity analysis results (2010/11 dollars) ............................................................... 63 Table 11: Net present value estimates of various network reconfiguration options, Brewarrina and Goodooga 65

Figures

Figure 1: Brewarrina Shire Council Local Government Area ................................................................................ 9 Figure 2: Brewarrina Shire Water Supply System – Brewarrina ....................................................................... 10 Figure 3: Brewarrina Shire Sewerage System – Brewarrina ............................................................................. 11 Figure 4: Goodooga Village ................................................................................................................................. 12 Figure 5: 2008/09 Performance Report – Water Supply ................................................................................. 20 Figure 6: 2008/09 Performance Report – Sewerage ....................................................................................... 22 Figure 7: Organisational structure ...................................................................................................................... 50 Figure 8: Cash and debt, base and positive ERR cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars) ............................... 55 Figure 9: Water supply - financial performance, base and positive ERR cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars) 56 Figure 10: Water supply - cash and debt, base and subsidy cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars) ............. 56 Figure 11: Water supply - financial performance, base and subsidy cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars) 57 Figure 12: Water supply - cash and debt, LALC contract case, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars) ..................... 57 Figure 13: Water supply - financial performance, LALC contract case, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars) ........ 58 Figure 14: Water supply - cash and debt, decommissioned raw water case, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)58 Figure 15: Water supply - financial performance, decommissioned raw water case, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

.............................................................................................................................................................................. 59 Figure 16: Water supply - sensitivity, net cash position, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars) ............................... 60 Figure 17: Water supply - sensitivity, economic real rate of return, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars) ............. 60 Figure 18: Sewerage - cash and debt, base and subsidy cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars) .................. 61 Figure 19: Sewerage - financial performance, base and subsidy cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars) ..... 62 Figure 20: Sewerage - cash and debt, base and LALC contract cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars) ........ 62 Figure 21: Sewerage - financial performance, base and LALC contract cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)63 Figure 22: Sewerage - sensitivity, net cash position, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)..................................... 64 Figure 23: Sewerage - sensitivity, finances and growth, economic real rate of return, 2010-2039 (2010/11

dollars) .................................................................................................................................................................. 64





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Glossary

Term Meaning

ADWF Average Dry Weather Flow

Annual Demand Total annual water consumption

AWWF Average Wet Weather Flow

BSC Brewarrina Shire Council

BOD5

Five day biochemical oxygen demand. Used as one measure of the ‘strength’ of

sewage.

CED Common Effluent Drainage sewerage system – overflow from septic tanks is collected

and treated using a centralised sewage treatment plant

CPI Consumer Price Index

Developer Charge A charge levied on developers to recover part of the capital cost incurred in providing

infrastructure to new development.

DEUS

Department of Energy, Utilities and Sustainability (defunct- the water and sewerage

functions of DEUS are now administered by the Department of Environment, Climate

Change and Water)

DECCW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water

DLWC

Department of Land and Water Conservation (defunct- the water and sewerage

functions of DLWC are now administered by the Department of Environment, Climate

Change and Water)

DPWS

Department of Public Works and Services (defunct- the water and sewerage regulatory

functions of DWPS are now administered by the Department of Environment, Climate

Change and Water)

DWE Department of Water and Energy (defunct- the water and sewerage functions of DWPS

are now administered by the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water)

EP Equivalent Person

EPA Environment Protection Authority (functions are administered by the Department of

Environment, Climate Change and Water)

ERR Economic Real Rate of Return

ET Equivalent Tenement (ie the equivalent load deemed to be imposed by a typical

household)

IPART Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal

IWCM Integrated water cycle management

kL/d Kilolitres per day (thousands of litres per day)

LALC Local Aboriginal Land Council

LMWUA Lower Macquarie Water Utilities Alliance (composed of Bogan Shire Council, Bourke





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Term Meaning

Shire Council, Brewarrina Shire Council, Cobar Shire Council, Dubbo City Council,

Narromine Shire Council, Warren Shire Council, Wellington Council)

MEERA Modern Equivalent Engineering Replacement Asset (the equivalent modern asset which

provides the same level of service as an existing older asset)

ML/d Megalitres per day (millions of litres per day)

NHMRC National Health and Medical Research Council

NOW NSW Office of Water (part of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and

Water)

OMA Operation, maintenance and administration (costs)

Peak Day Demand Highest water consumption on one day in a year.

Real Terms The value of a variable adjusted for inflation by a CPI adjustment.

PWWF Peak Wet Weather Flow

PS Pumping Station

SALC State Aboriginal Land Council

SR Service Reservoir

SS Suspended solids, or the concentration of particles in sewage. Used as one measure of

the ‘strength’ of sewage.

STP Sewage Treatment Plant

TRB Typical residential bill

WTP Water Treatment Plant





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1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose of this Plan

Strategic Business Plans are intended to govern the long term operation of business entities within local

councils. These plans form a companion to a council’s Community Strategic Planning framework,

which detail the proposed priorities of the council over the relatively short timeframe of three to ten

years.

This plan is designed to assist in the operation of Brewarrina Shire Council’s water supply and sewerage

businesses.

Strategic business plans are a particularly useful tool for water supply and sewerage businesses for the

following reasons:

Water supply and sewerage businesses are very capital intensive. Assets are created and renewed

over timeframes of 25 years to a century. The business needs be able to accumulate funds and

service debt in a way that, as far as possible, minimises costs borne by the community and preserves

intergenerational equity.

Water supply and sewerage businesses provide an essential service which reduces risks to public

health, but utilises a limited natural resource. The business needs to be able to respond changes to

the standards set by regulators in a way that reflects the financial realities of a business dependent on

high cost, long life assets.

The NSW Office of Water requires such plans be created to demonstrate the long-term viability of

the business. Once this has been achieved, the business may qualify to issue dividends to the

business owner, and/or qualify for financial support for new capital works.

This strategic business plan addresses the long-term operation of the business by:

Considering the current operating environment of the business (section 2)

Reviewing the current capability of the business to provide services to the community, and

proposing a future level of service (sections 3, 4 and 5)

Reviewing the adequacy of the current asset base to provide the current and proposed future

levels of service, and identify upgrades necessary to achieve or maintain the future level of

service (section 6).

Reviewing the human and financial resources required for the business to perform (sections 7

and 8)

Identifying performance indicators to track progress against the objectives of the business.

A map of the Shire is provided at Figure 1. The existing water supply and sewerage networks for

Brewarrina are shown at Figure 2 and Figure 3. Maps showing the water supply and sewerage

networks for Goodooga are not yet available. A map of the village is shown in Figure 4.






1.2 Acknowledgements

This plan has been prepared by Alf Grigg, Phil Hawley and Michael Cuthbert, engineering consultants

engaged by Brewarrina Shire Council to assist them in this process.

However the development of the plan has extensively relied on knowledge and input of the staff of

Brewarrina Shire Council, particularly David Kirby, Linda Hutchinson, Lionel Liego, and John Kauter

(consultant to Brewarrina Shire). The plan is a living document, and Brewarrina Shire Council will be

undertaking to implement the plan, and progressively update and modify the plan as knowledge

improves and stakeholder requirements change.

1.3 Disclaimer

This document has been prepared for a particular purpose, using information made available by the

client in accordance with the client’s instructions. Users of this document should note the assumptions

and approximations used. Any use of the document outside of the stated purpose is at the user’s risk.






Figure 1: Brewarrina Shire Council Local Government Area






Figure 2: Brewarrina Shire Water Supply System – Brewarrina






Figure 3: Brewarrina Shire Sewerage System – Brewarrina






Figure 4: Goodooga Village

Currently little digitised data is available for the Goodooga water supply or sewerage systems.






2. Operating Environment Review

This chapter reviews the environment in which the businesses operate, being the circumstances of the

Council they are part of and the community they serve.

2.1 History of the water supply and sewerage services in Brewarrina

Shire

Brewarrina Shire Council was constituted in 1955, although water supply systems to Brewarrina and

Goodooga pre-date the incorporation of the area.

A bore was provided at Goodooga in 1897. Brewarrina was provided with a raw water supply from

1952, although the majority of the network was not installed until 1960. In 1969 Brewarrina was

provided with sewerage services, with effluent treated using a trickling filter process to the west of the

town. In 1970 potable water supplies were provided to the majority of Brewarrina.

In 1986 sewerage services were extended to the West Brewarrina Aboriginal Reserve and Goodooga

(including the Aboriginal Reserve), with Barwon 4 provided with a Common Effluent Drainage

sewerage service in 1993. The Barwon 4 sewerage system is not owned by Brewarrina Shire Council.

Goodooga’s water supply was upgraded between 2002 and 2004 with the provision of a potable water

supply from an artesian bore, treated using chlorination and a cooling tower.

2.2 Legislative framework

In managing its water supply, Council must work within a complex legislative framework. It is not the

intention for this business plan to describe the Council’s responsibilities under the various Acts and

Regulations, but to list the legislation. It is the responsibility of the Councillors and the staff to inform

themselves of the requirements of the legislation and their relevant responsibilities.

The Brewarrina water supply and sewerage businesses are constituted as part of Brewarrina Shire

Council under the Local Government Act 1993. Council reports to the NSW Office of Water (NOW,

part of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water), on matters of utility

performance. This performance includes operation, maintenance, pricing and customer satisfaction.

Operation and treatment performance of the water and sewage treatment plant is monitored by NOW

with regular inspections.

The water business also reports to NSW Health on matters of drinking water quality.

The NOW administers the Country Water Supply and Sewerage Programme subsidy scheme, and is

consulted regarding any significant upgrade or system augmentation works. Ministerial approval is

required for new water treatment, sewage treatment and effluent reuse systems under the requirements






of the Local Government Act.

The provision of water in the Darling River is controlled by NOW, under the Water Management Act

2000. NOW develops water allocation plans for the Darling catchment each year.

The Western Catchment Management Authority commenced in July 2004. Some responsibilities of

state government devolve to the Authority.

The major Acts that control the water supply obligations include:

Local Government Act 1993, in particular Sections 56 to 66.

Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997

Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979

Catchment Management Authorities Act 2003

Soil Conservation Act 1938

Public Health Act 1991

Fluoridation of Public Works Supplies Act 1957

Water Act 1912 (largely rescinded)

Water Management Act 2000

Occupational Health & Safety Act 2000

Brewarrina Shire Council is a member of the NSW Water Directorate. The Directorate provides

technical assistance, best practice manuals and representation to Government for the member utilities.

Brewarrina Shire Council recently became a member of the Lower Macquarie Water Utilities Alliance.

The Alliance was created in response to the NSW Government’s Inquiry into secure and sustainable urban

water supply and sewerage services for non-metropolitan NSW conducted during 2008 and reporting in early

2009.

The voluntary alliance seeks to improve the effectiveness of the member councils’ water and sewerage

businesses through:

o Resource sharing, including staff

o Mentoring

o Peer reviews of statutory reports, including this strategic business plan

The Alliance retains the ownership of assets at local Council level.

The NSW Government is yet to formally respond to the inquiry’s recommendations. Depending on the

response, Brewarrina’s membership of the Lower Macquarie Water Utilities Alliance may become

mandatory.






2.3 Corporate mission, policy and objectives

The water supply and sewerage business units form part of the broader Brewarrina Shire Council.

Therefore this Strategic Business Plan needs to conform to the broader objectives of Council’s

operations.

2.3.1 2010-2012 Management Plan

The Management Plan is Council’s primary medium-term planning document. It describes how Council

will be implementing its strategy over a three-year timeframe.

This includes the mission statements for the water supply and sewerage businesses.

Mission statement - Water supply services

To provide sustainable and cost effective water supply service, that meets Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, to

Brewarrina and Goodooga residents.

Mission statement - Sewerage services

To address sewage collection and treatment needs of Brewarrina and Goodooga, in a congenial, cost efficient and effective

manner.

2.3.2 Policies

Council has adopted a number of policies which are particularly relevant to the management of the

water supply and sewerage businesses. These are summarised in Table 1.

Table 1: Key Brewarrina Shire Council Policies

Policy Description

Asset Disposal Describes procedures and requirements for disposal when assets are no longer useful

to Council.

Asset Management Provides a framework to create, construct, manage, supervise, control, inspect,

maintain and repair assets to a safe standard and condition.

Complaints Outlines processes for handling various classes of complaint including appeal

Purchasing Describes procedures to purchase goods and services including tendering and

quotations.

Records Outlines the requirements for the creation, storage and disposal of corporate

information.

Occupational Health

and Safety

Provides a framework for managing cccupational health and safety risks, including the

management of workplace injuries.

Risk Management Dedicates Council to utilising the risk management principles in its operations as per

AS4360(2004)






3. Levels of Service

3.1 Comparative performance

Brewarrina Shire Council operates the second-smallest public water supply business in NSW. The small

customer base, combined with the remoteness of the local government area, presents the business with

significant challenges compared to most water utilities. Brewarrina Shire Council participates in an

annual performance reporting process conducted by the NSW Office of Water. The most recent

reports were for the 2008/09 financial year, released on 28 April 2010.

The NSW Office of Water also provides each local water utility a two-page summary comparing its

performance across 52 indicators for water supply and 51 indicators for sewerage. Brewarrina Shire

Council ranked in the bottom 20% of small water utilities1 across 8 of the 27 reported indicators for

water supply and 15 of the 32 reported indicators for sewerage.

3.1.1 Consideration of poorly ranked items

Utility characteristics

The water supply and sewerage businesses are both characterised by employment rates several times

that of the state median. In absolute terms, the report indicates that there are 3 employees for water

supply and 8 employees for sewerage.

This probably is an overstatement of the true circumstances given that many staff are shared across a

number of roles. Reports for the years 1999-2006 indicate a total employment in the order of 3-4.

Regardless it would be expected that the very small scale of the business will lead to significant

diseconomies of scale. Opportunities to procure services using different approaches are considered in

section 4.2 of this plan.

Social, Economic

The businesses are characterised by high access charges. No usage based charges are currently

implemented due to a lack of water metering.

The combination of a small customer base and the remoteness of the area leads to significant

diseconomies of scale, which is reflected in the operations, maintenance and administration costs, and

consequently customer bills. Service pricing is addressed in section 5.4 and a financial plan is outlined

in section 8.

Environmental

The water supply business is characterised by an extremely high rate of residential water supply – 1721

kilolitres per property per year, some 7 times the median for inland water utilities and the third highest

1 200 to 1500 customers






value in NSW. These high values are related to a combination of the lack of water meters and the arid

climate experienced in Brewarrina. Service pricing is addressed in section 5.4.

The sewerage system is characterised by a high rate of mains blockages or breaks at three times the

state median. A programme of condition assessment and rehabilitation of assets is outlined in section

6.2.4.

3.2 Service availability

Council provides water supply and sewerage services to 480 properties in Brewarrina Town and

Goodooga. It aims to maintain these services and to also connect any new properties developed within

the service areas.

3.2.1 Performance

Council was able to provide continuity of service for the water supply without the need to introduce

water restrictions.

3.2.2 Future targets

Council plans to maintain service to the currently serviced areas, servicing new development in or

adjacent to the existing areas where it is economic to do so. This service will consist of the optimal

combination of the raw and filtered water supply systems, as well as sewerage services.

3.3 Service quality

Council aims to provide a water supply service to Brewarrina Town and Goodooga that complies with

the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (2004) and which delivers an adequate quantity to meet the

community’s needs. At this stage Council does not have a risk-based drinking water quality

management plan as required by the Guidelines.

Council aims to provide a sewerage service that provides for the environmentally sustainable disposal

of waste water within the Shire in accordance with the Protection of the Environment Operations Act

1997. The Brewarrina Sewage Treatment Plant is licensed under this Act (Licence number 1748, due

for review by 2 December 2013). The Goodooga Sewage Treatment Plant is not licensed due to its

small size.

3.3.1 Performance

Both of the Shire’s water supply systems have maintained 100% compliance with physical and chemical

water quality standards for the year 2008/09 (the most recent year for which data is available).


Council intends to continue to meet the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines quality standards, and

will develop a risk-based drinking water quality management plan conforming to the Guidelines,

possibly in collaboration with similar utilities






3.4 Response to failures

Council maintains a dedicated water and sewerage supervisor in the Brewarrina urban centre, who is

able to call on council or outside resources to respond to service failures. In Goodooga, two wages staff

are able to respond to minor failures with more serious occurrences referred to the water and sewerage

supervisor in Brewarrina.

Water supply main breaks and sewer blockages are given priority over programmed maintenance tasks.

3.4.1 Performance

The statewide median for water main breaks per 100 km of water main across NSW in 2008/09 was 10,

whereas Council recorded 50. This indicates an unacceptably high rate of failure with proportionate

inconvenience to customers and expense and resource consumption in effecting repairs. It would be

appropriate to invest these resources in bringing the water distribution network up to a higher standard

to reduce or even eliminate these breaks.

Council aims to keep the interruption time for sewerage failures to the current level i.e. an average of

less than 60 minutes. However, with 156 sewer chokes or collapses per 100 km of main, there is an

unacceptably high rate of failure in the system. As with the water supply, it would be appropriate to

invest resources into improving the network, which will ultimately save considerable expense and other

resources in the current maintenance regime and reduce service interruptions to customers.

The median time for sewerage interruptions across NSW in 2008/09 was 116 minutes. The average

interruption time for Brewarrina Shire was 60 minutes or about half the state median.


It is likely that high rates of breaks and blockages will be common for some time, as the asset base ages

and there are limited funds available for replacement and renewal. Some maintenance measures can be

completed to reduce the frequency of sewer main blockages. A maintenance plan is outlined in section

6.2.3 and programme of condition assessment and rehabilitation of assets is outlined in section 6.2.4.

These measures will take some time to be effective.

Consequently the following targets have been proposed:

Water main breaks: Average 40 main breaks per 100km of main per year from 2010/11 to

2013/14.

Sewerage chokes and collapses: Average 120 main breaks per 100km of main per year from

2010/11 to 2013/14.

Sewerage interruption time: Average 60 minutes from 2010/11 to 2013/14.






3.5 Response to complaints

3.5.1 Performance

Council received no water supply or sewerage service complaints in 2008/09. This level of complaints

is extraordinarily low given the high number of main breaks and other service interruptions.

It is more likely that the notifications from customers are not being treated as ‘complaints’ in a

consistent manner by staff. This particularly may be the case if field employees are contacted directly

when there are problems.


Council will aim to keep the number of complaints at or below the state wide medians reported in the

annual performance monitoring reports.

3.6 Customers with special needs

There are currently no special needs customers identified by Council, such as customers requiring home

dialysis.


In the event that special needs customers become resident, Council will respond to their needs on a

case by case basis but bearing in mind that it must provide services that are equitable to all customers.

3.7 Action plan

Business Objectives Proposed measures Provider (cost)

Target

date

Water Supply

& Sewerage

Ensure performance

reporting is reflective

of actual situation

Document methods for collating

data on complaints and estimating

full-time equivalent employment

involved in business.

Adopt standard break/blockage

reporting forms for field staff

BSC/LMWUA

(nominal)

Jul

2010

Level of Service

targets established.

Develop targets based on

historical performance and

realistic improvement goals.

Determine financial impacts of

service improvements.

Consult with community.

Consultant ($5,000) May

2011

Water Supply

Water quality risks

managed to national

standards

Prepare drinking water quality

management plan as per the

Australian Drinking Water

Guidelines

BSC/LMWUA/NOW

($10,000)

Jul-

2011






Figure 5: 2008/09 Performance Report – Water Supply











Figure 6: 2008/09 Performance Report – Sewerage











4. Service Delivery

4.1 Current service delivery regime

The Utility employs a permanent in-house staff of three. This is supplemented on a part time basis

from other Brewarrina Shire Council staff, including two staff with shared duties providing a response

service to Goodooga. Administration, management, IT and engineering services are supplied to the

businesses by Brewarrina Shire Council.

Specialist services are provided by contract. These include electrical maintenance, mechanical

maintenance, radio telemetry and other preventative maintenance programmes on instrumentation and

equipment.

4.2 Options for alternate delivery

4.2.1 Contracting

Where the requisite skills or other resources are not available within Council, services can be

contracted. This applies not only to capital works but also to ongoing or non-routine maintenance

activities such as electrical work, works requiring a licensed plumber or mechanical overhauls e.g.

pumps, motors or aerators.

Contracting is a reasonable option that enables Council to buy in services where it doesn’t have the

requisite resources or expertise in house. This particularly applies to one off or major projects where

the necessary resources may not even be available in the local area.

The remoteness of Brewarrina from major centres means it probably is uneconomic to contract out

routine operations and maintenance. There is scope for Council to improve its economies of scale by

providing operation and maintenance services to systems owned by the Local Aboriginal Land Councils

under contract.

When Council chooses to purchase services by contract, it needs to ensure it is capable of adequately

procuring, supervising and managing the contract.

In the case of all contracts, Council needs to be mindful of the requirements of the Local Government

tendering regulations. For routine minor contracts Council may choose to publicly invite registrations

of interest with the objective of establishing a list of approved contractors e.g. electricians or plumbers

that can provide services at short notice. For more major or one off projects Council may have to seek

quotations or go through a formal tendering process (depending on the value of the work) on a project

specific basis. For some services Council can utilise panels established by the State Contracts Control

Board or LG Procurement (an arm of the Local Government and Shires Association).






4.2.2 Sharing of resources with other LMWUA members

The LWMUA provides the opportunity for Council to access skilled resources and equipment that it

doesn’t otherwise have available to it. In many instances the greater economies of scale mean that

purchasing these services from other member councils will be cheaper than trying to complete the task

internally.

A major advantage of the alliance is that it gives Council ready access to skills and specialised

equipment that are already in the region and that these, subject to availability, can be procured without

having to go through a formal tendering process.

The LMWUA is also starting to enter into regional service contracts, such as for the cleaning of

reservoirs. This will give BSC access to more keenly priced services and simplify the procurement

process.

Wherever possible, BSC will utilise the resources and services provided by the LWMUA. On rare

occasions it is also possible that BSC will be in a position to lend or hire its resources to other member

councils.

BSC has much to gain from the LMWUA and wherever possible will seek to support and to foster the

aims of the alliance.

4.3 Action plan


Target

date

Water Supply

& Sewerage

Suitable level of

service is provided at

the lowest possible

cost

Pursue the development of technical

support and knowledge transfer

Pursue regional contracting and

resource sharing arrangements

BSC/LMWUA Ongoing

Continue to seek providing operations

and maintenance support services for

LALC controlled systems on a

commercial basis

BSC/NOW/LALC Jun

2010






5. Customer Service Plan

5.1 Objective

The objective of this plan is to provide a level of water supply and sewerage services to the customers

of Brewarrina Shire Council that is consistent with best practice in the context of the financial, asset

condition and regulatory circumstances prevailing upon Council.

5.2 Community consultation

Councillors currently represent the best interests of the community in both the water supply and

sewerage businesses. The council offices and service provision systems together with support alliances

such as the Lower Macquarie Water Utilities Alliance (LMWUA) provide for customer needs.

Council regularly reports to the community through mechanisms such as the Brewarrina News, where

it has a regular information section known as the Brewarrina Shire Council Update. Council will

continue to provide information to the community through this means.

This Strategic Business Plan will be submitted to the community for comment prior to its adoption.

This will confirm that the community is in agreement with the service level targets that Council has set.

Council will also solicit feedback on projected capital works and maintenance expenditure and other

resources through the public exhibition of the annual Management Plan.

Planned maintenance or capital installation activities that will impact on service delivery to the

community will be advertised in local media.

5.2.1 Aboriginal community

A key component of consultation is that with the aboriginal community living in and around both

Brewarrina and Goodooga. Members of the community were contacted during the preparation of this

plan.

From this consultation it was evident that members of the community at West Brewarrina are impacted

by the ingress of tree roots into sewers and also that water pressure is inadequate at times. A view was

expressed that the current water supply system is overloaded.

It was also evident that the effluent reuse scheme is not common knowledge throughout the

community with suggestions being made that Council should do something about recycling effluent.

Otherwise, the aboriginal community representatives were generally happy with the services being

provided by Council.






5.3 Availability of services

Council does not provide water and sewerage services to whole of the shire due to the large distances

involved and the very low population base. The cost of such services would be prohibitively expensive

both to construct and to operate. Services are provided in the two major population centres. Council

does have an obligation to continue providing those services that it currently provides in a sustainable

manner and within minimum acceptable standards of quality, environmental impact, availability and

cost.

5.3.1 Current areas serviced

Council currently provides water supply and sewerage services to 480 properties in Brewarrina and

Goodooga.

The water supply in Brewarrina and Goodooga consists of both a raw water supply that is used for

watering public and private gardens and a filtered supply that provides potable water for internal

purposes.

5.3.2 Residential areas without access to services

The Brewarrina Shire Local Government Area has five identifiable centres of population, as

summarised with their population in Table 2.

Table 2: Centres of population, population and servicing

Population

centre

Population

(2006 census)

Occupied

dwellings Water & sewerage services

Brewarrina 1,121 348

Council provided water & sewerage. LALC services connect to

Council system for West Brewarrina (water & sewerage) and

Barwon 4 (water supply). Barwon 4 sewerage provided by

LALC (CED system)

Goodooga 265 83 Council provided water & sewerage. LALC services connect to

Council system.

Weilmoringle Est 55 Approx 20

structures LALC provided water supply. No public sewerage service.

Gongolgon

(State suburb) 85 17

Privately owned water supply to rehabilitation centre. Other

properties have private pumps from the Bogan River. No

public sewerage service.

Angledool

(State suburb)

84

(est 35 in

village)

22 Private pumping from Angeldool Weir. No public sewerage

service.

The hamlet of Angledool is an opal mining settlement. It appears that most residents are utilising a

combination of water tanks for potable purposes, and private pumping services from the adjacent

Angeldool Weir2 on the Narran River for non-potable purposes. At times Council has had

2 The formal spellings of the locality and the associated weir are different






representations for it to install a public bore as a substitute source3, however it considers the cost of

installing and operating a bore uneconomic for the small population benefiting on the rare occasions

the weir is unable to provide a non-potable supply and would unfairly burden the current customers of

the water supply service. If external parties were in a position to fully fund the capital costs of

constructing an artesian bore, Council may be in a position to consider funding ongoing operations and

maintenance.

Similarly if Gongolgon sought to have a public water supply in the future, this would only become

viable if the capital costs of the scheme were fully funded by external parties.

Council has assisted with carting water to these villages and reserves when the local supplies have dried

up during extended drought.

Council has no plans to extend the current service area beyond Brewarrina and Goodooga as the

current low population numbers outside of these centres does not justify the provision of a public

service. The service area within the towns of Brewarrina and Goodooga could be extended in the event

of major residential or commercial development. Council will review the service area if such an event

occurs or is likely to occur. In making this assessment Council is aware that servicing may be a pre-

condition to attracting development.

While Brewarrina Shire Council has no responsibility to operate and maintain systems owned by the

Local Aboriginal Land Council, it has assisted at times to rectify problems. Council is currently

negotiating with the Local Aboriginal Land Council and the NSW Office of Water to provide

operations and maintenance services on a contract basis.

5.4 Pricing of services

5.4.1 Access charges

Council currently raises its income for water and sewerage services in Brewarrina using ad valorem

rates, however the majority of assessments serviced are subject to the minimum charge. Water supply

and sewerage services for Goodooga are charged on a flat rate basis.

Council will move its access charge regime to one based on the size of the water service provided to the

property, to conform with NSW Office of Water requirements. This change will be implemented by the

start of the 2012/13 financial year.

5.4.2 User charges

Council currently does not levy user charges. Within Brewarrina town, Council does levy additional

charges based on urinals and water closets for non-rateable land and commercial customers. Brewarrina

3 See for example http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/07/2183042.htm






Shire Council is one of the last utilities in NSW to not have pay-for-use water tariffs, with 98% of

utilities using this method in 2008/09.

Property water meters have not been provided across the shire system, making it difficult to implement

a user charges regime. Furthermore the low quality of raw water supplies makes it impracticable to

meter these systems.

The other findings of this plan suggest that it is necessary for Brewarrina to manage peak day demands

so that it can reduce the cost of maintaining and replacing its asset base. Inland councils have observed

up to a 70% drop in peak day demand as residents adopted simple water conservation measures such as

not watering during the day.

Council will progressively install meters within the potable supply over the next five years, focusing at

first on commercial and non-rateable customers, and properties containing multiple dwellings. Once all

properties of these types are metered, Council will introduce user based charges, assigning residential

dwellings an assumed level of usage.

5.4.3 Developer charges

There is no developer servicing scheme currently in place and a very low level of development taking

place. However, Council should review the service pricing and concepts for the water supply and

sewerage systems. As the shire has a growth rate of less than 5 lots per annum Council will prepare an

Exemption Document as described in section 2.2.3 of the DLWC Developer Charges Guidelines for Water

Supply, Sewerage and Stormwater.

5.5 Management of sources and sinks

Fulfilling the best practice criteria means that Council must embrace the holistic suite of water and

sewerage management strategies. These include integrated water cycle management (IWCM), demand

management and drought management for water supply, and trade waste management and effluent

reuse for the sewerage system.

5.5.1 Integrated water cycle management

The LMWUA is currently developing a regionally-based IWCM strategy study. This should assist BSC

to satisfy the requirements for best practice and provide BSC with the information that it needs to best

manage its fresh water, wastewater and stormwater resources.

5.5.2 Environmental management

Although Brewarrina Shire is located on the confluence of two large rivers, the flow in them can be

severely impacted by both flood and drought. Over the past decade the latter has been more common.

It is therefore essential that Council has strategies to manage these situations and particularly drought

when water supplies can be limited.






The sewage treatment plants are capable of discharging to the rivers and water courses in the event of

very high flows. In most years however Brewarrina’s effluent is reused in a lucerne cropping operation,

and the Goodooga system generally disposes of the effluent by evaporation. Accordingly, Council will

manage these treatment plants in a way that does not negatively impact the riverine environment. To

this end Council will ensure that the treatment plants and reuse scheme operate within all legislative and

licensing requirements.

Liquid trade waste approvals also assist Council in achieving this obligation, by reducing the risk of

substances being discharged to the sewerage system that can lead to system blockages and/or process

failure.

5.5.3 Water

Demand management

Council does not currently have a demand management plan. Such a plan is required to meet best

practice requirements and also assists Council in deferring capital works on both the water supply and

sewerage systems. The lack of water metering makes it difficult to quantify a baseline for

improvements.

The LMWUA has prepared a brief for a regional demand management plan. This should assist BSC to

satisfy the requirements for best practice and provide BSC with a template for developing its own plan

at relatively little cost.

Drought management

Council does not currently have a drought management plan. Such a plan is required to meet best

practice requirements and also assists Council in maintaining dwindling water resources during times of

drought.

The LMWUA has prepared a brief for a regional drought management plan. This should assist BSC to

satisfy the requirements for best practice and provide BSC with a template for developing its own plan

at relatively little cost.

5.5.4 Sewerage

Liquid trade waste management

Although the majority of connections to sewer are residential, there are a number of commercial and

light industrial customers such as service stations, workshops, commercial kitchens and the hospital.

These provide the bulk of the non-biological loading in the treatment plants.

There is no trade waste policy, nor are there any prescribed pre-treatment systems known to Council in

non-residential properties to treat trade waste prior to discharge to sewer. Lack of a formal trade waste

policy and user agreement system may prove to be a problem if council wants to obtain capital works

co-funding from the State Government.






It is essential for Council to introduce a formal trade waste policy that provides for non-domestic

discharges to sewer in conformance with the NSW Office of Water’s guidelines. This is also essential to

provide equity to all sewerage customers.

Effluent reuse

An effluent reuse scheme is in operation at Brewarrina, consisting of providing water to a lucerne

farmer under contract. The quality of effluent makes it necessary for the lucerne cropping operation to

alternate between treated effluent and water sourced from the Barwon River. Council will ensure that

the operations of the effluent reuse system are fully compliant with the POEO Act and other published

regulations and guidelines covering wastewater reuse.

5.6 Action plan


Target

date

Water

Supply &

Sewerage

Community is

informed and

participates in

decision making.

Place the draft strategic business

plan on public exhibition and

incorporate community feedback

BSC (nominal) Jul 2010

Charge structure

reflects demand

management

principles and NOW

guidelines

Prepare an exemption for the

requirement to prepare developer

contribution (s64) plans as per

Section 6.2.2 of the DLWC

Guidelines

BSC (nominal) Aug 2010

Install water meters and

implement reading programme

Contractor

Installation:

($20,000)

Reading:

($5,000/a)

Jun 2011

Replace water and sewerage rates

with charges based on availability

and usage

Consultant

($5,000) Jun 2013

Future service areas

are identified to

facilitate planning and

guide development

Develop a policy position on future

expansion of the systems

BSC (including

Economic

Development

Officer) (nominal)

May 2011

Demand management

used to defer capital

expenditure and

reduce operating cost

Investigate objectives and extent

of demand management options,

and their outcomes on system

capacity to determine financial

implications

Seek community input and then

adopt as policy

Consultants

engaged by

LMWUA (BSC

contribution

$5,000*)

Oct 2011*

Water

Supply

To conserve supplies

of fresh water during

times of drought

Develop a water restriction policy

in accordance with best practice

Recently

completed







Target

date

To manage the water

cycle in a way that

minimises

environmental impact

Participate in the preparation of

the regional IWCM plan

Consultants

engaged by

LMWUA (BSC

contribution

$12,000*)

Jun 2012*

Sewerage

System operated in

accordance with all

statutory and licence

requirements

Document any known

environmental protection and

sustainability issues; including an

environmental review of the

sewage treatment plants, effluent

reuse system, and known system

overflow relief discharge points

Consultant

($6,000) Feb 2011

Publish known issues and

commence a community

consultation programme to all

relevant customers

Council (nominal) Mar 2011

Develop control measures to bring

identified issues to within

acceptable parameters

Consultant

(unknown) Aug 2011

Risks associated with

liquid trade waste

discharges are

managed.

Adopt a liquid trade waste policy in

conformance to the NSW Office of

Water’s Model Policy.

LMWUA working

group Jun 2011

* these figures to be confirmed by the LMWUA executive






6. Asset management plan

6.1 Introduction

This plan has the primary objective of developing sustainable asset management processes to allow the

continued delivery of the water supply and sewerage services to the serviced communities of

Brewarrina Shire Council.

6.1.1 Background

The provision of reticulated water supply and sewerage systems is primarily a function of

commissioning and operating physical assets intended to achieve design standards of performance over

rated service lives. Effective asset management and maintenance is fundamental to the assets achieving

the intended design life, and in turn, delivering the services within the financial constraints of the Shire.

The existing water supply and sewerage systems feature design concepts and materials that were

considered innovative and cost-effective at the time of commissioning.

6.1.2 Goals and Objectives of Asset Management

Asset management has the primary goal of optimising the service life and operating costs of the

intended service.

The objectives of asset management are:

To operate and maintain a reliable, safe water supply and sewerage system;

To provide a consistent level of service through the avoidance of asset failures; and

To optimise the life cycle of asset systems to achieve the lowest cost of service provision.

6.1.3 Plan Framework

The asset management plan consists of the following:

Asset registers of water supply and sewerage system assets;

Operational plans for the operation and maintenance of water supply and sewerage systems;

Operational and maintenance records of service events;

Condition information as provided from valuation and specialist asset condition assessment

events.

6.2 Lifecycle Management Plan

A comprehensive lifecycle management plan provides the essential forward planning framework to

ensure that assets are both serviced and replaced at the optimum point in the lifecycle, and enables

Council to financially plan to ensure that funds are available to complete maintenance and renewal.

Council is aware that the life of many assets differs substantially from their design life assumed at

installation.






The asbestos cement (AC) gravity sewer pipe system in Brewarrina is an example of an asset type that

was once considered a cost-effective media for gravity sewer applications. Industry service experience

has demonstrated the vulnerability of AC gravity sewer pipe to sulphide slime attack and rapid failure

well before its design life.

Intensive maintenance and asset condition surveillance can extend the life of an asset class by detecting

and mitigating/minimising/eliminating the accelerated corrosion processes to optimise asset service

life, and in turn deferring expensive asset rehabilitation/renewal projects.

Council is conscious of the limitations and risks of its service systems, and is committed to evaluating

and selecting asset systems that represent cost-effective choices to local conditions consistent with the

forward growth forecasts for the urban communities served.

6.2.1 Background

Physical Parameters

Water supply and sewerage system assets generally provide long service lives and meet design objectives

if constructed and installed to manufacturer and industry specifications.

The key attributes of the Council water supply and sewerage systems are shown in Table 3 and Table

4.

Table 3: Water supply attributes (raw and filtered systems)

Parameter 2007/08 results

Residences connected 480

Annual consumption 830 ML

Peak week demand 20 ML/d

Total storage capacity 80 ML

Potable supply plants 2

Length of reticulation and distribution pipelines 40 km

Pumping stations 7

Table 4: Sewerage system attributes

Parameter 2007/08 results

Residences connected 420

Sewage collected 210 ML

Recycled water produced 170 ML

Treatment plants 2

Length of reticulation and distribution pipelines 20 km

Pumping stations (owned by Council) 5

The Brewarrina potable water supply treatment plant is a conventional plant which should capable of

meeting the existing medium term future requirements of Brewarrina.






The Goodooga potable water supply is a chlorinated artesian bore supply that is extracted, cooled, and

chlorinated before storage and distribution.

The Brewarrina raw water supply treatment plant is a river diversion and standpipe storage capable of

meeting the existing and planning future requirements of Brewarrina.

The Goodooga raw water supply treatment plant is a river diversion, storage and pressure pumping

station capable of meeting the existing and planning future requirements of Goodooga.

Asset Capacity and Performance

Council staff have observed that the water treatment plant is operating at close to its capacity during

peak summer days. This high demand is partly caused by the lack of demand management measures

such as user charges.

Water supply assets are designed with a specific capacity and performance objective for service delivery.

Sewerage assets must meet certain minimum sizes and capacities for effective transport function,

though are otherwise designed to sizes consistent with the intended system capacity.

Assets that are undersized fail to meet peak system demand, so placing system quality and reliability at

risk.

Equally, oversized assets represent unnecessary investment in capacity and performance that

contributes to higher total system operating costs. Some oversized assets such as sewer pump wells and

rising mains result in excessive detention times and can contribute to reduced service life due to

corrosion.

Goodooga raw water supply

The Goodooga raw water supply may be an example of a system intended to provide for a design

demand that has since been substantially replaced by the capacity of the parallel potable water supply.

While the lack of master water meters denies an opportunity to evaluate the available capacity and

performance of both the raw and potable water supply systems, there would appear to be an

unnecessary duplication in the capacity and performance of the raw water supply system.

Council proposes to fit master supply meters to both systems to enable the relative performance of

both systems to be established, and may result in the extent and number of customers on the raw water

supply being reduced in total numbers of properties served. This reduction would enable the essential

asset renewal of the key assets in the raw water system to be designed for the intended customer

capacity requirement, and enable redundant pipeline assets to be declared redundant and stored

serviceable.






Council intends to monitor system capacity of the various systems following the introduction of water

supply by metered services as demand may be tempered by user-pays charging, so enabling system

augmentation to be deferred for a number of years.

Asset Condition

Asset condition assessment is fundamental to establishing whether an asset is within its normal

lifecycle. Asset condition can normally be observed either directly, or from asset maintenance records.

The following condition definitions are examples of a condition rating system that has been utilised to

condition rate assets:

Condition 1: As new or in excellent condition;

Condition 2: An asset in very good to good condition; typically within the first 10% of the

service life of most assets;

Condition 3: An asset in good condition that demonstrates age-consistent degradation;

Condition 4: An asset that is operational albeit in a compromised condition or inadequate

capacity, that requires a repair or replacement response within a short timeframe;

Condition 5: An asset that is either inoperable or so close to being inoperable as to require

immediate repair or replacement

Most water supply and sewerage assets, if adequately designed, specified, and installed, perform very

well within the first few years of service, then settle into competent operation for much of the

remaining rated service life.

It is difficult to directly assess the condition of buried assets such as water mains, but

breakage/burst/leakage records can rapidly highlight systemic failure patterns that are reliable

indicators of a class of assets reaching a terminal age.

Water mains

The pattern of premature failures that occurred in recent years with uPVC rising main pipe probably is

caused by insufficient design provision for transient pressure heads created by pumps. Council is

committed to ensuring that existing and future project designs and asset specifications are appropriate

and fit for the intended purpose.

Some assets such as cast iron cement-mortar lined (CICL) and asbestos cement (AC) pipe installed in

benign internal and external service environments are capable of performing long beyond their rated

service lives.

Water pumps

Pumps generally provide service lives based on total hours run, with early failure characterised by

winding and seal chamber alarms. Chlorinators and other dosing equipment is often considered life-

expired after a rated total service life. Council’s current system of keeping records is considered






inadequate. Council plans to formalise asset recording within the proposed NAMS asset management

system.

All of the above condition ratings are based on either visual evaluation or an assessment of the service

record of a buried asset such as a pipeline.

Goodooga potable water standpipe (reservoir)

The Goodooga potable water supply standpipe is an example of an asset that is displaying defects that

could result in the asset failing much earlier than the normal service life of 100 years. Defective

construction in pour practices is presenting weep marks on the external surface of the structure. These

weeps will progress until the weeps are uncontrollable and the standpipe is no longer fit for purpose of

providing a standing column of water.

Council has noted that the visual records of the Goodooga standpipe enable the asset to be rated as a

marginal 3 or actual rating 4 asset given the progressive nature of the weeps through the defective

reinforced concrete walls.

Brewarrina sewerage network

The Brewarrina gravity sewer system was CCTV inspected in 2007 as part of the valuation of the

system. The CCTV records depicted a number of examples of AC gravity sewer pipe that was

displaying strong visual evidence of sulphide slimes on the higher internal surfaces of AC gravity sewer

pipes. Sulphide attack on AC pipe can result in rapid deterioration of the pipe structure and integrity,

leading to collapse and total failure of the gravity sewer surface.

Goodooga sewerage network

Council has records of tree root ingress into the gravity sewer system of Goodooga, and notes advice

that such failures constitute serious concerns as the system is reputed to have been originally

constructed with uPVC pipe of either rubber ring or solvent weld joints.

Tree root ingress points to either defective solvent welds, the rubber ring not being fitted to joints

during construction, and/or the pipeline becoming oval and the joint failing due to defective pipe

installation.

Council intends to confirm reported and observed defects by inspection, evaluation, and where

necessary from external specialist advice. The tree root penetrations of the gravity sewers are not readily

rectified if the defect is systemic throughout the system, and will result in lifecycle additional

maintenance expenditure to achieve intended service life.

Other assets

Some assets such as electric motors, pumps, switchboards, dosing systems, chlorinators, etc require

planned routine maintenance if the normal service lifespan is to be achieved. Council is aware of

examples of assets not serviced to industry cycles within the Goodooga water supply and sewerage

systems, and is committed to implementing industry standards and manufacturer-recommended






servicing and replacement cycles. Council will seek routine maintenance and assessment reports from

scheduled service providers as part of establishing asset condition reporting and updating systems.

There are a number of reports of operating defects that point to some assets either being installed

incorrectly, or constructed in a manner that has created system and structural weaknesses. Such defects

may result in a significantly reduced service lifespan, so potentially creating asset renewal expenditure

earlier than the normal financial component of the asset plan would provide.

Asset Valuations

Council is required by the Department of Local Government to prepare valuations of water supply and

sewerage assets by 30 June 2012. Part of the valuation will involve CCTV inspections of the Brewarrina

and Goodooga gravity sewer systems, and the review of maintenance records of the water reticulation

systems.

Council will utilise the five year cycle of revaluations to revise its asset management plan to ensure that

the plan remains accurate and current.

Council will engage specialist valuers who can undertake direct visual inspection of above-ground

assets. The valuation will include evaluation and condition rating of sufficient samples of the gravity

sewer systems of both the Brewarrina and Goodooga gravity sewer systems.

6.2.2 Risk Management Plan

State occupational health and safety regulations require employer bodies to operate and maintain a risk

management plan of the physical assets for which they are responsible.

Risk can be with respect to the potential for the asset to cause injury to an employee, contractor, or

others, or can constitute risks to provision of the specific service.

Council intends to implement a risk management plan that will consider the severity of the risk posed

and the consequences of the failure. It intends to comply with adopted standards of organisations such

as those of the NSW Water Directorate and the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.

Council intends to evaluate risk management templates such as those template plans as provided by the

Water Directorate.

6.2.3 Routine Maintenance Plan

Maintenance Plan

Water supply and sewer assets require routine maintenance, without which an asset can prematurely fail

and be life expired. Routine maintenance enables assets to be checked by visual assessment and by a

simple assessment of the operating record to enable early detection of emerging service defects.






Many water supply and sewerage assets are supplied with detailed maintenance service manuals. Some

assets such as gas chlorinators must only be serviced by qualified, accredited service providers.

Council will utilise maintenance schedules for equipment such as pumps and insert them into the

maintenance plan to ensure that all procedures are completed by suitably qualified employees or

contractors.

Council will fully integrate specialised maintenance service provision into any regional grouping

initiatives for contracted provision of maintenance services such as pump inspection and overhaul,

chlorinator/dosing pump maintenance, sewer cleaning and CCTV inspection, environmental

monitoring, sampling, analysis and reporting.

Council will upgrade remote monitoring systems to enable system performance, abnormal operation,

and failures to more closely monitor system function and total hours run.

While the long-term objective might be to optimise service life and reliability, Council accepts that

some assets may run to failure and require replacement in the interim period.

Standards and Specifications

Council is committed to operating the water supply and sewerage systems to relevant national, state,

industry, and manufacturer standards and specifications. Examples would include those standards and

guidelines adopted by the NSW Water Directorate and Water Services Association of Australia.

Council will utilise the resources of organizations such as The NSW Water Directorate, to ensure that

its procedures for operations and maintenance are consistent with good practice.

Summary of Future Maintenance Expenditures

Council acknowledges that specialist advice on the current condition of existing assets portrays a

situation that places Council in a position of significant asset renewal and renewal challenges.

Council is aware that the current situation of both the water supply and sewerage systems for

Brewarrina and Goodooga may require considerable expenditure in the coming years as significant asset

groups such as the AC gravity sewers in Brewarrina approach a life-expired status.

Council intends to adopt a strategy of increased surveillance and targeted maintenance to ensure that

renewal and rehabilitation expenditures are deferred as long as possible.

6.2.4 Renewal/Replacement Plan

Renewal Plan

The valuation report for the year ending 30 June 2007 provide the best available renewal plan for the

long term sustainable operation of the systems.






Council has noted the advice of its specialist advisers that timely identification of critical asset condition

will enable assets such as gravity sewers to be rehabilitated at the optimum life-cycle point prior to

physical collapse. If collapse occurs, this leads to a service failure and an expensive emergency

replacement of assets to restore service.

Renewal Standards

Council intends to utilise asset renewal systems utilising the most cost-effective systems that are

currently available for use in remote regional locations such as Brewarrina and Goodooga, and may be

utilised within the regional grouping.

Council will investigate system design for both water supply and sewerage services given the limited

prospects for system growth in both urban locations. Pressure sewerage systems may be more cost-

effective for low density urban areas as compared with constructing and operating conventional gravity

sewerage systems. Council intends to operate and maintain the existing systems to the practical life

cycle limit based in the example of gravity sewers on extensive use of the in-house CCTV inspection

equipment, by high pressure jetting to remove sulphide slimes from AC gravity sewers, and by

eliminating points of sulphide gas release and slime colonisation.

Council is committed to providing reliable service standards that progressively trend towards and

meeting equivalent State industry standards for comparable regional communities.

Summary of Future Renewal Expenditure

Council’s financial returns for 2008/09 indicate that the water supply and sewerage businesses are

depreciating at a rate of $152,000 and $139,000 per annum respectively.

A rule of thumb is that Council needs to spend or set aside this amount each year to fund

replacements. This currently does not occur. The Financial Plan provides a more sophisticated

analysis of replacement requirements based on phased programmes.

These programmes are provided in Appendix B.

6.2.5 Creation/Acquisition /Upgrades Plan

Creation, acquisition, and upgrades within the Brewarrina and Goodooga context should be understood

in the context of rationalisation of existing systems. Any contracted service provision beyond these

systems should be undertaken at full cost recovery.

Upgrading systems may actually mean simplification, automation, and remote monitoring, control, and

response.

Selection Criteria

Assets will be selected based on the following criteria:

Suitability to meet the target level of service (capacity, quality of treatment, reliability);






Capable of being operating in a manner that doesn’t pose significant occupational health and

safety risks;

Meets all legal and licensing requirements;

Provides the lowest life cycle cost.

Standards and Specifications

Council is committed to operating the water supply and sewerage systems to relevant national, State,

industry, and manufacturer standards and specifications.

Council intends to achieve cost-effective, suitable asset systems by effectively integrating its system

specifications into the agreed or majority approach within the Lower Macquarie Utilities Alliance to

ensure that any particular asset system is as common to any regional standard and specification such

that operation, maintenance, repairs and replacements will be possible on a regional basis.

Council recognises that water supply and sewerage asset systems in remote and regional communities

may not correlate to those assets best suited to the requirements of major urban communities, though

is committed the design solution best suited to semi-arid small community requirements.

Such systems may include innovative solutions with reduced service lifespans yet offering the best

solution of low initial capital cost, low-to-moderate operating costs, and equivalent minimal

maintenance costs.

Council intends to confront the reality of potential population shift and reduced demand in some urban

communities in favour of surrounding urban centres, and therefore reduced total asset service life cycle.

Summary of future upgrade/new asset expenditure

At this stage no major assets have been identified for upgrade, nor have any new assets been identified

as required to meet the level of service requirements for the serviced centres.

Council is, however, investigating the expansion of its existing radio telemetry system to the Brewarrina

sewerage system, and the Goodooga water supply and sewerage systems. This system potentially also

could be used to provide remote monitoring of sites which it is contracted to operate and maintain on

behalf of the Local Aboriginal Land Councils.

6.2.6 Disposal Plan

Council has no disposal plan for its assets that must remain in service until life-expired or no longer

required for provision of service by users. The nature of the assets means that there is almost no sale

value in the assets once they reach life expiry as the cost of recovery exceeds the potential revenue.






6.3 Asset Management Practices

6.3.1 Accounting/Financial Systems

Council is committed to utilising the fair valuation concept and methodology as per the NSW Local

Government Asset Accounting Manual, with emphasis on sourcing and applying to most suitable, cost-

effective asset system consistent with the demand, anticipated service life, need for maintenance, and

level of reliability.

Fair valuation of water supply and sewerage assets and systems is normally based on the modern

engineering equivalent replacement (MEERA) approach. The key criterion in this approach is that an

existing asset will reflect the design and manufacturing standards at the time of

construction/manufacture/installation of the asset. The modern equivalent replacement asset/system is

based on the most suitable technology of today.

As an example, a modern equivalent replacement raw water extraction pump station at Brewarrina

would most likely be a small, submersible pump station with no pump well and with a cubicle

switchboard mounted above flood levels, with the total cost being much lower than the current day

cost of the original pump station.

The modern equivalent replacement valuation method reflects the approach to achieving the most cost-

effective future replacement of a life expired asset.

6.3.2 Asset Management Systems

The current situation is there is no asset management system for urban water supply and sewerage

systems. Each loss of a long-serving, experienced council employee means loss of vital asset service

information, due almost entirely to the lack of an integrated asset management system that would

routinely capture such data.

Council will progressively develop its asset management system, both in its own right, and as part of

any future resource sharing project of the Lower Macquarie Water Utilities Alliance.

Council is currently implementing the NAMS.AU framework for infrastructure asset planning4. Council

has been developing a GIS-based asset information system. Asset data will be structured so that it will

be able to be readily linked to the GIS to enable analysis within the GIS, and export data in the formats

necessary for reporting under the NAMS.AU format. The combined asset information system (GIS)

and NAMS.AU asset planning framework will form the asset management system.

The implementation of the asset management system will initially focus on the primary components of:

Asset registers of water supply and sewerage system assets;

Operational plans for the operation and maintenance of water supply and sewerage systems;

4 See www.ipwea.org.au for more information about the NAMS.AU programme

http://www.ipwea.org.au/






Operational and maintenance records of service events;

Condition evaluation results and ratings as provided from valuation and specialist asset

condition assessment events.

6.3.3 Information Flow Requirements and Processes

Council will review and revise its operational reporting systems to ensure that asset condition and

service issues observed in the field by employees will be successfully recorded in the asset information

system and utilised to determine asset management priorities using the NAMS.AU framework.

Examples of asset information will include location, time, and categorisation of operational events such

as pump inspections, plant minor and major maintenance, sewer blockage and water main failure

details, and service complaints.

Council will explore possible opportunities for data recording systems currently being implemented

within the LMWUA.

6.3.4 Standards and Guidelines

Council will participate in and fully support an agreed suite of standards and specifications for the

implementation of the NAMS.AU framework.

Standardisation of regional asset management practices will enable Council to benefit from the cost

savings associated with regional grouping contractual arrangements for examples such as the provision

of sewer cleaning, CCTV inspection and condition rating of the reticulation sewer systems.

Standardisation to accepted national industry codes will ensure that Council reporting of asset

condition rating will be more readily accepted by external specialists, auditors, and government

departments.

These levels of regionalisation of asset management practices will ensure progress towards seamless

asset management between operational and financial management.

6.4 Action plan


Target

date

Water

Supply

Life and remediation

requirements of

Goodooga Standpipe

understood

Have structure inspected by

suitably qualified and experienced

professional engineer to determine

options for inspection, assessment,

and rehabilitation

Specialist ($5,000) Sep

2010

Water

Supply &

Sewerage

Assets valued in

accordance with DLG

requirements

Re-value infrastructure assets on a

five-yearly cycle

Specialist

($20,000)

Jan

2012







Target

date

Water

Supply

Understand if

Goodooga raw water

system is required for

all customers

Install master meters on both

potable and raw water systems.

Compare demands to potable

system capacity.

Develop strategy for raw system

abandonment/ truncation/

replacement.

BSC ($10,000) Jun

2011

Water

Supply &

Sewerage

Enhanced asset

management

Participate in any regional

initiatives in developing and

enhancing asset management.

LMWUA (say

$5,000/a) n/a

Develop asset information systems

based on a GIS platform,

compatible with NAMS.AU

BSC & consultant

(say a further

$5,000 to develop

data structure)

Jun

2011






7. Human resources

7.1 Introduction

This plan has the primary objective of ensuring that Brewarrina Shire Council has appropriate numbers

of staff in the correct positions and with the necessary experience and skills to provide sustainable

water supply and sewerage services to those parts of the Shire where Council provides these services.

7.2 Overview

Council has an approach to Human Resources that identifies which employees have responsibility for

water supply and sewerage functions.

This approach has been strengthened through a recent organisational restructure. Position descriptions

have been developed for those current positions dedicated to the provision of water and sewerage

services. Although these position descriptions describe the competencies required of each position,

there is no audit of the available skills against the requirements of the organisation as defined by these

position descriptions. Such a skills audit will be required to assess the competencies held by the

incumbents for each position. Learning plans will then have to be developed to enable current

incumbents to eliminate any deficiencies in these competencies.

The relative isolation of Brewarrina Shire and the broad range of services that the Council provides

means that many employees possess a range of skills to cover many functions. However, they have not

necessarily had the opportunity to develop high level competencies in any of these functions.

The current water and sewerage staffing consists of:

Works Manager - Services (who has combined responsibility for plant services, water and

sewerage)

Water Supervisor

Three operational staff (Brewarrina) dedicated to water & sewerage

Two operational staff (Goodooga) who also perform general engineering duties

These front line staff are supported by administration staff who provide customer service, accountancy,

rates and billing services. A copy of the council’s organisation chart showing positions that are involved

in the delivery of water supply and sewerage services is at Figure 7.

None of the council staff has plumbing qualifications. This means that while staff are able to work on

council’s utility infrastructure, they cannot undertake works on private property. The Water Supervisor

holds Certificates I, II & III in Water Treatment.






Council during 2009 became a member of the Lower Macquarie Water Utilities Alliance (LMWUA).

The alliance not only satisfies the objective of the NSW Government for collaboration between

councils, but also provides a range of expertise and resources to those member councils that don’t

otherwise have ready access to them. An additional benefit of this alliance is the opportunity for

networking and the capacity building that this provides for Brewarrina Shire.

7.3 Provision and equipping of personnel

Council staff are available for after hours call outs. Residents from Brewarrina normally contact the

Water Supervisor in the first instance. Those from Goodooga contact the local staff but will also

contact the Water Supervisor in the event of what they perceive to be a major failure.

Council is not currently utilising water meters in its billing; user charges are based on the property

valuation. Council is aware that it will have to move to a user pays 2-tier billing system. This will

necessitate the training of rates staff in the new billing system and the customer service staff in dealing

with billing enquiries. It will also require the acquisition and installation of water meters and require

that at least two staff members be trained in meter reading or that a contract be let for reading the

meters. However, given the geographic location of Brewarrina and the relatively small number of

meters to read, it may be found more efficient for Council to employ its own staff in reading the

meters, or arranged for meter reading to be provided on a regional contract basis.

Currently there are no plumbing contractors based in Brewarrina. If Brewarrina Shire Council

successfully negotiates to provide operation and maintenance services to LALC, there may be benefits

in training staff in plumbing and/or electricial maintenance. These services then in turn could be used

for other Council and private works to gain additional revenue and offset the costs of training.

7.3.1 Position Descriptions/Learning Plans

The NSW Local Government Award, the award under which Council’s staff are employed, is a skills-

based award that requires councils to develop a salary system that provides incentives for staff to

acquire and use additional skills.

It is therefore incumbent on Council to develop as a high priority the position descriptions including

key tasks, duties and specialist knowledge required to adequately perform the requirements for each

position. The position descriptions should consider and where relevant adopt the skills and

competencies that have been established as industry standards for water and sewerage authorities

throughout Australia, and should certainly reflect those adopted by the LMWUA. Council may also be

able to purchase resources from within the LMWUA group to assist in writing the position descriptions

should this be necessary.

Only then can a gap analysis be undertaken to ascertain the skills that the current incumbent staff

possess and those that they should seek to acquire. Relevant learning plans can then be prepared and

implemented toward satisfying this objective.






These learning plans should be developed for each employee with responsibilities for the water supply

and sewerage businesses. This should include not only the operational staff but also professional and

administrative support staff. They should take the form of a contract between the Council and the

employee that will reward the employee for acquiring mutually agreed skills over a pre-defined and

agreed time period. Council should arrange for any necessary training at no cost to the employee.

Council should also be aware that training needs to be ongoing and should allow a minimum of 5 days

per annum on combined water and sewerage operations for training purposes for each of its

professional and operational staff and up to 2 days per annum for customer service staff.

It should be noted that for a multi-purpose council such as Brewarrina, many staff are engaged in

activities for both the water and sewerage funds and also often for the general fund. In such cases, the

learning plans should be negotiated with each employee to suit their individual circumstances and may

contain elements pertaining to skills required for work in each of these funds.

It is essential that the learning plans remain confidential between the Council and the employee.

7.3.2 Human Resources Audit

A key part of human resources management is to match the staffing numbers, qualifications and skills

against the defined workload and human resources need that is derived from the operation of the water

supply and sewerage systems and their associated administration for the Council to provide best

practice water and sewerage facilities. The resources of the LMWUA will greatly assist in identifying the

skills and qualifications required and provide opportunities for both informal and structured learning as

well as resource sharing.

Senior management subjectively knows the audit of human resources available and the human

resources management system has identified which employees have responsibilities for water supply

and sewerage functions. However, this relates mostly to operational and professional staff only and has

not included support staff such as customer services. The introduction of consumption based billing

will mean that a greater number of administration support staff including customer services, finance

and general administration staff will be involved in the businesses and will require training to acquire

new skills. Further, the assessment of competencies required once the operational staff position

descriptions are completed may also result in a reassessment of the workload requirements as

determined by this management plan. Any adjustments should then be made to balance the level of

resources against the workload

A key component of the human resources audit is ensuring that the qualifications of staff are kept up to

date, are renewed as necessary and their currency is documented e.g. confined space entry accreditation

requires that the employee undergoes annual refresher training.






7.3.3 Succession Planning

Once the workload and competency requirements have been audited, it would be appropriate that this

chapter of the business plan be rewritten to reflect the findings of that audit.

A key component of providing sustainable services into the future will be to ensure that there continues

to be trained and skilled staff available to take over from staff that may leave the organisation or who

go on extended leave. It is preferable that where practicable these replacement staff can be sourced

from within the organisation so that the store of corporate and local knowledge is retained.

In this respect it would be prudent to develop a succession plan that identifies any staff members with

the potential or the skills to occupy higher classifications and establishes a career development

programme for them. The career development programme should be written into individual learning

plans.

The learning needs of the organisation should be reviewed annually and this chapter of the business

plan revised accordingly.

7.4 Occupational health and safety

The provision of water and sewerage services is fraught with many potential health and safety risks to

both employees and contractors and to a lesser degree to the public. These risks include but are not

limited to handling chemicals, contact with aerosols, electrical hazards, hazards associated with

excavations, working in traffic and working in confined spaces. Council is responsible under the

provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 not only for the actions and welfare of its

employees but also for those of contractors working on council sites or undertaking work on council’s

behalf.

Council is coming to terms with its OH&S obligation and is in the process of developing hazard

assessments and controls. However, there is only a low degree of implementation of these tools as at

the end of 2009.

Safe Work Methods Statements (SWMS) are yet to be developed for the water and sewerage functions

of Council.

Water and sewerage operations staff have had training in some aspects of managing risks, such as in

traffic control and confined space entry and a register is kept of their certifications/licenses. However,

there is no system in place to advise when refresher training is required or when it is completed e.g.

confined space training was undertaken in November 2006 but there is no record of the required

annual refresher training having been conducted since.

The register should include a notation as to the extent and frequency of refresher training required

together with the expiry date of current accreditations (where relevant).






In conjunction with the development of the learning plans, Council should capture the currency of

safety accreditations and develop a programme of providing required refresher training at the

appropriate intervals. It should also ensure that both employees and contractors only undertake work

for which they are trained and can demonstrate competency.

In this respect Council should ensure that it obtains and documents details from contractors as to their

own OH&S system and the degree of implementation. Where this is not in place then Council should

ensure that contractors are inducted into the Council’s system and that they work to the requirements

of that system. Appropriate records must be kept.

7.5 Action plan


Target

date

Water &

Sewerage

Appropriate numbers of

staff are in the correct

positions and with the

necessary experience

and skills.

Undertake a skills gap analysis

BSC with

LMWUA

Mar 2011

Prepare individual learning plans

for all incumbents Sep 2011

Review and revise learning plans Annually

from 2012

Identify staff members with

potential for leadership

development

BSC with

LMWUA or

consultancy

(<$10,000)

Nov 2011

Establish career development

programmes for potential future

leaders

BSC with

LMWUA Mar 2012

Audit workload and competency

against resources and adjust

resourcing as necessary

BSC with

LMWUA Sep 2012

Water &

Sewerage

To ensure that Council

meets its OH&S

obligations in the

delivery of water and

sewerage services

Implement the risk assessment

procedure that has been

developed

BSC Immediately

Develop SWMS for standard

processes

BSC with

LMWUA Jun 2011

Develop and implement a

procedure to prepare SWMS for

non-standard processes or

activities

BSC Jun 2011

Ensure that contractors meet the

minimum standards set by

Council and either work to their

own OH&S system or come

under the umbrella of Council’s

system

BSC with

LMWUA Aug 2010






Figure 7: Organisational structure

Community


Mayor

General Manager

Manager Administration

Customer Service Officer

Assistant General Manager

Works Manager -Services

Water Supervisor

W&S Staff –Brewarrina

(3 dedicated staff)

W&S Staff –Goodooga

(2 shared staff)

Manager Finance

Rates OfficerAdmin

Officer/RecordsAssistant

Accountant






8. Financial plan

8.1 The purpose of financial planning

Water supply and sewerage businesses are characterised by large variations in annual expenditure as

capital assets are progressively purchased, maintained, rehabilitated and replaced. The long life cycle of

these assets inevitably means that most water supply businesses will need to go through cycles of funds

accumulation, spending and debt servicing.

From the customer’s perspective, it is important that the cost of service is kept as stable as possible. If

the cost of service is consistent (in real terms) over the life cycle of the asset base, both current and

future customers are treated in an equitable manner.

This Financial Plan seeks to meet the following objectives to support the Brewarrina Shire water supply

and sewerage businesses:

The business is capable of funding new and replacement assets needed to provide a satisfactory

level of service to its customers and the broader community.

Over the long term, customer charges are kept as low and as stable as possible.

This version of the Financial Plan should be considered as indicative of a future price path. The actual

price path will vary in response to any future changes in the regulatory and economic environment. All

costs are expressed in anticipated 2010/11 prices5.

8.2 Planning approach

This Financial Plan has been developed using

‘FINMOD’ modelling software provided by the

NSW Office of Water, Department of

Environment, Climate Change and Water. This

software uses historical operating cost

information and combines it with forecasts of

growth and future capital works to prepare

financial forecasts, including cash, loans required

and asset valuation estimates.

8.3 Current Position

The following discussion is based on Brewarrina

Shire Council’s Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2009.

Brewarrina’s Water Supply business had $752,000 in net cash as of 30 June 2009, and no outstanding

loans. As of 30 June 2009, the business accrued an operating loss of $66,000. The business utilises fixed

5 This is based on an 2009/10 inflation rate of 2.9%pa.






assets valued at $5.3 million, having replacement cost of $11.1 million and depreciating at a rate of

$152,000 per year.

Brewarrina’s Sewerage business had $379,000 in net cash as of 30 June 2009, and a small $17,000 loan

dating back to the 1970s. As of 30 June 2009, the business accrued an operating loss of $74,000. The

business utilises fixed assets valued at $6.6 million, having a replacement cost of $10.8 million and

depreciating at a rate of $139,000 per year.

Both businesses are characterised by minimal investment asset renewals and replacements. The Asset

Management Plan has identified that the businesses need to start a programme of condition assessment

and replacement to ensure that the businesses are capable of meeting target levels of service in the

future.

The obvious conclusion from this review is that the businesses cannot operate sustainably without a

significant increase in revenue to fund future capital and operating costs.

8.4 Planning timeframe

These plans have been developed over a thirty year planning timeframe, from the 2009/10 financial

year through to 2039. This timeframe is recommended by the NSW Office of Water, and represents

slightly less than half of the life cycle of most major assets in the water supply system.

8.4.1 Growth forecasts

There is a considerable degree of uncertainty involved when forecasting growth for smaller centres

such as Brewarrina. This is because factors such as employment prospects are heavily dependent on the

performance of a small number of individual enterprises.

For the purposes of modelling growth forecasts have been based on the changes in population and

dwellings between the 1991 and 2006 census counts. During this period the Brewarrina urban centre

was recorded as having negative population growth, but the number of dwellings increased, in the order

of 0.7% per annum. This is attributed to reducing occupancy, a phenomenon observed in many other

centres. The census data is provided in Table 5.

Table 5: Census population and dwelling data, 1991 and 2006, Brewarrina Urban Centre

Year Population Dwellings Occupancy

1991 1168 396 2.95

2006 1121 437 2.56

If the decline in occupancy rate was extrapolated to 2039, this would suggest by this time the a mean

occupancy rate would be 1.9. This highly unlikely without a fundamental change in the typical

household structure.






Instead the growth rate in assessments was adjusted downwards until the mean occupancy increased to

2.0 persons per assessment in 2039. This yields a growth rate of 0.5% per annum.

8.5 Future operating costs

The capital works proposed consist of infrastructure rehabilitation and replacement. There are no

proposals for major new infrastructure, therefore operating costs per assessment are unlikely to

significantly change due to these factors. Some plant replacements may lead to a reduction in total staff

hours due to increased automation.

Initiatives proposed by this strategic business plan have been included within the financial model,

where possible.

8.6 Financial modelling

8.6.1 Key assumptions

All models require a number of key assumptions. These assumptions can have a significant impact on

the model results. Because of this, the modelling process includes various sensitivity tests to identify

which assumptions have a significant impact on the outcomes for the business. Key assumptions and

sensitivity tests for the businesses are provided in Table 6.

Table 6: Key assumptions and sensitivity tests, Brewarrina

Parameter

Assumed value

2009-2039 Sensitivity tests at

Inflation (general) 2009/10 – 2.9%pa

Following - 2.5%pa -

Inflation (capital works) 2009/10 – 2.9%pa

Following - 2.5%pa 3.0%pa

Interest rate for new borrowings 6.5%pa 7.5%pa

Interest rate for investments 5.5%pa 4.5%pa

Capital works programme As per plan -

Mean useful life of assets 70 years -

Growth in assessments 0.5% pa 0.25%pa, 0.75% pa

Developer charges income Nil (exempt) -

Number of assessments As per Special Schedules

3 & 5 -

Vacant assessments Vacancy rate is constant -

8.6.2 Approximations and adjustments

Brewarrina Shire Council does not have a Development Servicing Plan for water supply or sewerage.

This model assumes that this will continue, based on the recommendation that Council completes

an Exemption Document as allowed for under the Guidelines.

Developer provided assets are assumed to be insignificant to the finances of the business.

An operating limitation of FINMOD is that calculations are completed in whole thousands of

dollars. The low rates growth, combined with the relatively small size of the business’ operations,






means that some operating, maintenance and administration rates do not automatically increase in

proportion to growth due to round-down errors. These have been addressed by externally

calculating variations to operating costs and applying these costs as overrides.

8.6.3 Modelling scenarios and constraints

The financial models were developed to consider four key scenarios:

1. The business needs to service all debts during the model period without any external support

other than the pensioner rebate.

2. The business is able qualify for a 50% grant for all capital works, including renewals. This

scenario should be considered optimistic given that the NSW Country Towns Water Supply

and Sewerage Programme generally only provides grants for new capital works projects.

3. The business receives new income from the proposed agreement between Brewarrina Shire

Council, the NSW Office of Water and the Local Aboriginal Land Council to provide

operations and maintenance services for LALC water supply and sewerage assets. At this stage

the quantum of this income is unknown. For the purpose of modelling it is assumed to be

$20,000 per service per annum, with no significant change in operations, management or

administration costs.

4. For the water supply business, the raw water supply systems are decommissioned in 2012, This

scenario assumes that the potable water supply systems have sufficient peak day and fire service

capacity once demand management measures are implemented. A one-off conversion cost of

$1,000 per property has also been allowed to connect the raw water service to the potable

supply. The case does not consider potential operating and maintenance cost savings.

For the water supply business, a further scenario was developed to address problems with a negative

economic real rate of return (see below).

The modelling process used the following constraints during model development:

The minimum cash and investments balance was to be $100,000 for each business.

The Economic Real Rate of Return (ERR) was to be generally positive during the model

period.

Any increases in Typical Residential Bills (TRB) were to be phased in so that the increase did

not exceed 10% per year.

8.6.4 Water Supply business financial modelling

The financial models confirm that the current income stream isn’t sufficient to sustain operations in the

medium term, let alone be able to fund a substantial reinvestment programme. This is shown by a

negative economic real rate of return, which shows that the net operating result, less depreciation is less

than zero.






Summary

A summary of the performance of the various scenarios is provided in Table 7.

Table 7: Water supply - summary of financial performance of funding options (2010/11 dollars)

Scenario

Median Typical

Residential Bill

Median

ERR

2038/39 Net

Cash ($'000)

2038/39 Total

Equity ($'000)

50% subsidy for all capital works $999 1.79% +$2,394 $9,162

Generally positive ERR $1,035 0.12% +$187 $6,900

$20k/a income from Aboriginal CWSP $999 -0.04% -$60 $6,940

Base Case $999 -0.44% -$954 $5,731

Decommission Raw Supply $971 -0.14% +$856 $4,311

Base and positive ERR cases

After applying a 13% increase in typical residential bills, the business is capable of servicing debts,

however still is characterised by a negative economic real rate of return because of depreciation. The

business shows a significant decline in total equity over the model period. (Figure 8 and Figure 9)

The economic real rate of return becomes slightly positive if typical residential bills were increased by

18% above current levels ($1,035 per assessment per year). By comparison the 2007/08 typical bill for

non-metropolitan water utilities was $370. Given the already very high level of typical residential bills,

this Financial Plan adopts the lower increase for comparison purposes.

Figure 8: Cash and debt, base and positive ERR cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

01,0002,0003,0004,0005,0006,0007,0008,000

0 200 400 600 800

1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800 2,000

Eq

uit

y $'

000

Cas

h/D

ebt

$'00

0

Year

Financial Data

Base case: Cash and Investments Positive ERR: Cash and Investments

Base case: Debt Outstanding Positive ERR: Debt Outstanding

Base case: Total Equity Positive ERR: Total Equity






Figure 9: Water supply - financial performance, base and positive ERR cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

50% subsidy for all capital works case

The performance of the business improves considerably under the capital subsidy or operating contract

scenarios. If Brewarrina Shire were successful in obtaining 50% capital works grants for all of its

renewals, the increases applied to the base case result in a positive economic real rate of return, and a

significant increase in total equity.

Figure 10: Water supply - cash and debt, base and subsidy cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

$904 $9

99$1

,035

$200$300$400$500$600$700$800$900$1,000$1,100

-2.0

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

$/an

nu

m

ER

R %

Year

Performance Data

Base case: Economic Real Rate of Return Positive ERR: ERR

Base case: Typical Residential Bills Positive ERR: TRBs

01,0002,0003,0004,0005,0006,0007,0008,0009,00010,000

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

Eq

uit

y $'

000

Cas

h/D

ebt

$'00

0

Year

Financial Data

Base case: Cash and Investments 50% capital subsidy: Cash and Investments

Base case: Debt Outstanding 50% capital subsidy: Debt Outstanding

Base case: Total Equity 50% capital subsidy: Total Equity






Figure 11: Water supply - financial performance, base and subsidy cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

Aboriginal Community Water and Sewerage Programme case

If the assumptions made for the operation and maintenance contract are reasonably accurate, the

performance of the business improves considerably, although there still is a slight decline in total equity

and a slightly negative economic real rate of return (Figure 12 and Figure 13).

Figure 12: Water supply - cash and debt, LALC contract case, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

$904

$999

$999

$200$300$400$500$600$700$800$900$1,000$1,100

-2.0

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

$/an

nu

m

ER

R %

Year

Performance Data

Base case: Economic Real Rate of Return 50% capital subsidy: ERR

Base case: Typical Residential Bills 50% capital subsidy: TRB

01,0002,0003,0004,0005,0006,0007,0008,000

0 200 400 600 800

1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800

Eq

uit

y $'

000

Cas

h/D

ebt

$'00

0

Year

Financial Data

Base case: Cash and Investments $20k/a from ACWSP: Cash and Investments

Base case: Debt Outstanding $20k/a from ACWSP: Debt Outstanding

Base case: Total Equity $20k/a from ACWSP: Total Equity






Figure 13: Water supply - financial performance, LALC contract case, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

Decommissioned raw water systems case

If it were possible to decommission the raw water supplies, the financial performance of the water

supply business improves substantially compared to the base case. Typical residential bills can be

maintained at levels proposed for 2010/11 (before inflation), while achieving a net $2 million

improvement in funds and a nearly neutral economic real rate of return.

Actual performance is likely to be better than modelled due to savings in operating and maintenance

costs.

Figure 14: Water supply - cash and debt, decommissioned raw water case, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

$904

$999

$999

$200$300$400$500$600$700$800$900$1,000$1,100

-2.0

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

$/an

nu

m

ER

R %

Year

Performance Data

Base case: ERR $20k/a from ACWSP: ERR

Base case: TRBs $20k/a from ACWSP: TRB

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

0 200 400 600 800

1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800

Eq

uit

y $'

000

Cas

h/D

ebt

$'00

0

Year

Financial Data

Base case: Cash and Investments No raw supply: Cash and Investments

Base case: Debt Outstanding No raw supply: Debt Outstanding

Base case: Total Equity No raw supply: Total Equity






Figure 15: Water supply - financial performance, decommissioned raw water case, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

Sensitivity analysis

The results of the sensitivity analysis are summarised in Table 8, and are shown in Figure 16 and

Figure 17.

The sensitivity analysis shows that the performance of the business is most severely affected by

variations in capital works expenses and the growth rate. If the actual growth is half that of the base

case rate, typical residential bills need to be increased so that debt is able to be serviced. However if

growth is 50% more rapid, the business achieves a neutral economic real rate of return and net positive

cash.

The sensitivity analysis supports that a typical residential bill of $999 per annum is the absolute

minimum acceptable for the business to operate in something approaching a sustainable manner.

Table 8: Water supply - sensitivity analysis results (2010/11 dollars)

Scenario

Median Typical

Residential Bill

Median

ERR

2038/39

Net Cash

($'000)

2038/39

Total Equity

($'000)

Sensitivity: Growth @ 0.75%pa $999 0.13% +$231 $6,975

Base Case $999 -0.44% -$954 $5,731

Sensitivity: Borrowing rate +1%pa $999 -0.44% -$1,033 $5,650

Sensitivity: Investments -1%pa $999 -0.44% -$1,215 $5,463

Sensitivity: Growth @ 0.25%pa $1,020 -0.73% -$1,576 $5,073

Sensitivity: Capital Works Inflation +0.5%pa $999 -0.59% -$1,683 $5,936

$904 $9

99$9

71

$200$300$400$500$600$700$800$900$1,000$1,100

-2.0

-1.0

0.0

1.0

$/an

nu

m

ER

R %

Year

Performance Data

Base case: Economic Real Rate of Return No raw supply: ERR

Base case: Typical Residential Bills No raw supply: TRBs






Figure 16: Water supply - sensitivity, net cash position, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

Figure 17: Water supply - sensitivity, economic real rate of return, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

8.6.5 Sewerage business financial modelling

The financial models confirm that the current income stream isn’t sufficient to sustain operations in the

medium term, let alone be able to fund a substantial reinvestment programme.

A summary of the performance of the various scenarios is provided in Table 9.

-2,000 -1,500 -1,000

-500 0

500 1,000 1,500 2,000

$'00

0

Year

Sensitivity - Net Cash Position

Base case Invest interest -1% Loan interest +1%

Cap Inflation +0.5% Growth @ 0.25% Growth @ 0.75%

-2.0

-1.5

-1.0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

ER

R%

Year

Sensitivity - Economic Real Rate of Return








Table 9: Sewerage - summary of financial performance of funding options (2010/11 dollars)

Scenario

Median Typical

Residential Bill

Median

ERR

2038/39 Net

Cash ($'000)

2038/39 Total

Equity ($'000)

50% subsidy for all capital works $652 0.06% +$2,020 $10,173

$20k/a income from Aboriginal CWSP $677 0.47% -$1,036 $8,267

Base Case $710 0.49% -$1,098 $6,978

After applying a 53% increase in typical residential bills (to $710 per annum), the business is capable of

servicing debts, and achieves a slightly positive economic real rate of return. The business is able to

maintain total equity over the model period. (Figure 18 and Figure 19). The reinvestment needs of the

sewerage business during the model period demand this level of funding if debt is to be serviced.

By comparison the 2007/08 typical bill for non-metropolitan water utilities was $440, meaning that

while the percentage increase of charges is significantly higher than for the water supply business, the

deviation from state medians isn’t as substantial.

The performance of the business improves considerably under the capital subsidy scenario. If

Brewarrina Shire were successful in obtaining 50% capital works grants for all of its renewals, typical

residential bills would need to increase by 30%, while increasing total equity. Although the results

indicate a generally positive economic real rate of return, this largely appears to be driven by the grants

improving operating results.

Figure 18: Sewerage - cash and debt, base and subsidy cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000 E

qu

ity

$'00

0

Cas

h/D

ebt

$'00

0

Year

Financial Data

Base case: Cash and Investments 50% capital subsidy: Cash and Investments

Base case: Debt Outstanding 50% capital subsidy: Debt Outstanding

Base case: Total Equity 50% capital subsidy: Total Equity






Figure 19: Sewerage - financial performance, base and subsidy cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

If the assumptions made for the operation and maintenance contract are reasonably accurate, the level

of increase reduces to 46%, while having marginal benefit on other performance indicators (Figure 20

and Figure 21).

Figure 20: Sewerage - cash and debt, base and LALC contract cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

$464

$710

$652

$0$100$200$300$400$500$600$700$800

-2.0

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

$/an

nu

m

ER

R %

Year

Performance Data

Base case: Economic Real Rate of Return 50% capital subsidy: ERR

Base case: Typical Residential Bills 50% capital subsidy: TRB

01,0002,0003,0004,0005,0006,0007,0008,0009,00010,000

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

Eq

uit

y $'

000

Cas

h/D

ebt

$'00

0

Year

Financial Data

Base case: Cash and Investments $20k/a from ACWSP: Cash and Investments

Base case: Debt Outstanding $20k/a from ACWSP: Debt Outstanding

Base case: Total Equity $20k/a from ACWSP: Total Equity






Figure 21: Sewerage - financial performance, base and LALC contract cases, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

Sensitivity analysis

The results of the sensitivity analysis are summarised in Table 10, and are shown in Figure 22 and

Figure 23.

The sensitivity analysis shows that the performance of the business is most severely affected by

variations in borrowing interest and the growth rate. If the actual growth is half that of the base case

rate, or borrowings are 1%pa higher than assumed, typical residential bills need to be increased so that

debt is able to be serviced. However if growth is 50% more rapid, the business achieves a near neutral

cash position at the end of the model period.

The sensitivity analysis supports that a typical residential bill of $710 per annum is the absolute

minimum acceptable for the business to operate in a sustainable manner.

Table 10: Sewerage - sensitivity analysis results (2010/11 dollars)

Scenario

Median Typical

Residential Bill

(2009/10 $)

Median

ERR

2038/39

Net Cash

($'000)

2038/39

Total Equity

($'000)

Sensitivity: Growth @ 0.75%pa $710 0.74% -$275 $7,835

Base Case $710 0.49% -$1,098 $6,978

Sensitivity: Investments -1%pa $710 0.49% -$1,182 $6,892

Sensitivity: Capital Works Inflation +0.5%pa $741 0.59% -$814 $8,482

Sensitivity: Borrowing rate +1%pa $732 0.68% -$1,001 $7,077

Sensitivity: Growth @ 0.25%pa $739 0.51% -$1,111 $6,953

$464

$710

$677

$0$100$200$300$400$500$600$700$800

-2.0

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

$/an

nu

m

ER

R %

Year

Performance Data

Base case: ERR $20k/a from ACWSP: ERR

Base case: TRBs $20k/a from ACWSP: TRB






Figure 22: Sewerage - sensitivity, net cash position, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

Figure 23: Sewerage - sensitivity, finances and growth, economic real rate of return, 2010-2039 (2010/11 dollars)

8.7 Proposed price path

Unless prices for water supply and sewerage services increase substantially, Brewarrina Shire will not be

able to fund the renewals and replacements needed to maintain the level of service currently provided

to the community.

Based on the model results, the price for water supply services needs to increase so that the typical

residential bill increases to $999 per annum (in 2010/11 dollars). Sewerage service prices need to be

increased to $710 per residence per annum (in 2010/11 dollars).

-2,000

-1,500

-1,000

-500

0

500

$'00

0

Year

Sensitivity - Net Cash Position



Sensitivity - Economic Real Rate of Return

-2.0 -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.00.51.01.5

2009

/10

2011

/12

2013

/14

2015

/16

2017

/18

2019

/20

2021

/22

2023

/24

2025

/26

2027

/28

2029

/30

2031

/32

2033

/34

2035

/36

2037

/38

Year

ER

R%








The price increases identified are substantial, and make Brewarrina one of the most expensive areas in

the state for these services. Therefore Council will be exploring every opportunity to improve its non-

rates income base, and improve the efficiency of the businesses’ operations.

One option that merits close investigation is the possibility of decommissioning the raw water services

provided to Brewarrina and Goodooga. If it is possible to meet future peak day and fire service

demands without the raw water service, the substantial price increases for water supply could be

avoided.

If actual growth rates are less than that forecast, there may be need to increase typical bills further to

ensure the business remains sustainable.

8.8 Further analysis – reconfiguration of the dual supply systems for

Brewarrina and Goodooga

Following the development of this Plan, some further investigation was completed to assess the

financial impact of various reconfiguration options. These options considered permutations of retaining

the raw or filtered networks, immediate changeovers or changeover on asset failure and the timing of

installing water meters. A detailed memo is attached as Appendix D.

A summary of the assessment options is provided in Table 11 below. Note that the nature of this

analysis means it is not directly comparable to the FINMOD financial planning results above.

Table 11: Net present value estimates of various network reconfiguration options, Brewarrina and Goodooga

Centre Option

NPV

(cf Opt 1)

NPV $/dw

annualised

Brewarrina

1 - Master flow meters, water meters on all services, demand reduced to 3 times

inland average $- $-

2a - As for Option 1 except in 2020 start transitioning properties to treated supply

only as raw water mains reach end of life. -$611,856 -$90

2b - As for Option 2a except do not install property meters on raw supply -$1,130,214 -$166

3 - As for Option 2a except deliver treated water in the meantime -$514,960 -$75

4a - Provide a single property supply via the treated water system -$665,394 -$97

4b - Provide a single treated supply via the former raw water system reticulation +$40,595 +$6

Goodooga

1 - Replace transfer station with VSD multi-stage pumpset, replace raw water inlet

station, master flow meters, water meters on all services $- $-

2 - As for Option 1 except in 2046 start transitioning properties to treated supply

only. -$31,433 -$23

3 - As for Option 2 except supply system with artesian water in the meantime +$55,708 +$41






Centre Option

NPV

(cf Opt 1)

NPV $/dw

annualised

4a - Provide a single property supply via the treated water system -$45,113 -$33

4b - Provide a single treated supply via the former raw water system reticulation -$281,503 -$208

A working group of Council met on 16 May 2011 and recommended the following:

• [Brewarrina:] That Council move to a single water supply by implementation of either option

2B or 4A subject to the following investigation:

– Hydraulics study of system

– Financial business modelling following installation of magflow meters

– Revision of Strategic Business Plan

• [Goodooga:] That Council move to a single water supply by implementation of Option 4B in

stages:

– Stage 1:

• Connect treated water to the raw water line

• Design of pipeline: interconnecting pipeline to join the standpipe to the raw

water network

– Stage 2:

• Install water meters

• Clean out / disinfect raw water line

• Cross connections between current raw pipes and houses.

8.9 Action plan

Business Objectives Proposed measures

Provider

(cost)

Target

date

Water

Supply Business is financially

sustainable while keeping bills

as low as possible

Apply increases/decreases of 13%

over 2 years above inflation OR

If feasible, decommission raw water

systems and maintain charges in

real terms

Council From

2010/11

Sewerage Apply increases/decreases of 53%

over 6 years above inflation






9. References

Alf Grigg and Associates (2007) Brewarrina Shire Council: Valuation of Water Supply and Sewerage Assets.

Brewarrina Shire Council (2009) Management Plan 2010-2012, available at http://www.breshire.com

Department of Land and Water Conservation (2002) Developer Charges Guidelines for Water Supply, Sewerage

and Stormwater, New South Wales.

National Health and Medical Research Council (2004) Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, available at

http://www.nhmrc.gov.au.

http://www.breshire.com/

Strategic Business Plan: Water Supply and Sewerage Services · Strategic Business Plan: Water Supply and Sewerage Services Draft for Public Exhibition - 1.22, August 2011 Collaborative

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