mccc agenda - southern rural water · 2019-08-28 · mccc meeting no. 165 – tuesday 31 july,...

M C C C A G E N D AMeeting no. 166

10.00am, Tuesday 25 September, 2018 SRW Maffra Office88 Johnson Street, MAFFRA

We acknowledge the Gunaikurnai people, Traditional Owners of this land on which we meet and we pay our respects to their

Elders past and present.

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Our Vision – Boosting Southern Victoria’s food, fibre and regional productivity through outstanding rural water management

Our Goals

For customers

• Great service

• Affordable prices

• More water for production

• Adaptive, efficient and sustainable irrigation districts

For us

• Safe and healthy workplace

• High performing staff

• Financially strong

For all

• Environmentally responsible

• Strong relationships

• Safe dams

• Sustainable water systems Trademark Behaviours

• United

• Customer first

• Ambitious

• Results driven

• Innovative

• Respectful

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1 PROGRAM TIME

OPENING 10:00

2 Welcome and apologies

3 Declaration of conflicts of interest

4 Confirmation of minutes – Meeting 165

4.1 Macalister Customer Consultative Committee, Meeting 165 Draft Minutes

5 Business arising from previous meetings

FOR DISCUSSION

6 PRINCIPAL MATTERS

6.1 Chairperson’s report

6.2 Matters referred from the board

6.3 Manager Water Supply East update

6.4 MID2030 update (Poole)

6.5 Lake Wellington Land and Water Management Plan (Clapham)

6.6 Feedback register (relevant to MID)

7. GENERAL BUSINESS

8. FOR NOTING

8.1 Incoming correspondence

8.2 Outgoing correspondence

8.3 Communications report

8.4 Price Submission and Customer Charter

9 SALINITY UPDATE AND DISCUSSION (Clapham)

10 Next meeting

11 Close

MCCC Meeting No. 165 – Tuesday 31 July, 2018

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2. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES; AGENDA LISTING

3. DECLARATION OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

4. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES

RECOMMENDATION

That the committee approves the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 31 July, 2018

REPORT

Draft minutes of the MCCC meeting held at Southern Rural Water Maffra office on Tuesday 31 July, 2018, are attached at 4.1.


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4.1 ATTACHMENT 1: CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES – MEETING 165

MACALISTER CUSTOMER CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE

DRAFT MINUTES of MEETING 165 Held 10.00 a.m. Tuesday 31 July, 2018

At Southern Rural Water, 88 Johnson Street, Maffra

PRESENT Mr B Missen (Chair) Mr G Anderson OAM Mrs J Howie Mrs R Hanratty Mr N Drew Mr A Clyne Mr S Dwyer Mr M Sellen Mr J Scicluna Mr H Van Wees Mr R Webber

SRW Representatives Mr T Clapham, Manager Water Supply East Mr G Prior, Operations Supervisor MID Ms Renae Cooke, Executive Services

APOLOGY Mr A Hume, SRW board

2. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES; AGENDA LISTING

3. DECLARATION OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

4. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES

The committee approved the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 22 May, 2018

Moved: Graeme Anderson Seconded: Raelene Hanratty Carried


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5. BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS

5.1 SRW INVOICES

Mr Durrant joined the meeting to discuss. He noted that it is possible to get usage tariffs on the invoices – it is just a matter of working out a formula to only get it on MID bills.

The group discussed usage bills. Mr Durrant noted that SRW could bill usage earlier if the river diverter season was changed to finish on 15 May, but this would affect the allocation model, which would present a range of problems. Another option would be to upload the usage bill information to IPM for customers to view, so they could then pay early if they chose. The question was raised about whether there was value in spending the time and money on IPM to have this functionality. Currently, less than 10 prepay their usage bill. The group agreed that while they could see benefits for customers in having the information available, it should not be pursued at this time.

SRW will continue to accept prepayments and payment plans (with a reduced interest rate if plan is adhered to) at any time. It was agreed that this would be added into the next available District Update.

5.2 SALINITY WORKPLAN Mr Clapham presented the salinity workplan to the group.

Mrs Howie commented on the reduced amount of time allocated for salinity matters (75 minutes for the year) but acknowledged the change in model that much is done as business as usual within SRW now compared to the past.

The group discussed having a site visit to some pumps. Mr Clapham will send out an invitation and those who are interested are welcome to attend. Mr Sellen noted that the work plan did not contain any instruction on member induction as part of the plan. ACTION: Mr Clapham to include that aspect in the plan.

6. PRINCIPAL MATTERS

6.1 CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT

Mr Missen noted that he has received no feedback or concerns from customers since the May meeting.

6.2 MATTERS REFERRED FROM THE BOARD

No items were referred from the board.

6.3 MANAGER WATER SUPPLY EAST UPDATE


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Mr Clapham and Mr Prior provided an update, including: • Water share distribution

o 33 customers declined the offer and we are still chasing 23 customers. A final reminder letter is about to go out and any leftovers after that will be held until a sale process is determined.

• Shelf sales o all water is sold bar 11ML of high and low combined.

• Lifeblood o the cost analysis tool has been developed. o The critical assets the committee visited are part of a different

program – an update on that will be provided at a future meeting. • Role change

o This season EIB staff are trialling a change in the field. The team will be reducing numbers and changing focus to performance of the system rather than operating the system. The trial will run for the whole season and then effectiveness will be measured. The level of response seen by customers largely won’t change.

o Russell White retired last week after 40 years at SRW o Peter Brough has indicated that he won’t be back from long service

leave. o Currently conducting an allocation model review – the last one was 2002.

6.4 MID2030 UPDATE

Mr Rodda and Mr Enever provided the attached presentation.

6.5 NEW REVENUE PROJECTS

Mr Rodda provided the attached presentation.

6.6 FEEDBACK REGISTER (RELEVANT TO MID)

The group noted the feedback.

7 GENERAL BUSINESS

o Excavators cleaning channels again – great to see o Groundwater section in district update and diversions o Overall review of licensing process for groundwater and rivers – update o Application – applicant has to notify neighbours. Should be SRW.

8 FOR NOTING

8.1 INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE

• Nil

8.2 OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE

• Nil

8.3 COMMUNICATIONS REPORT

• The group noted the report.


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8.4 DEBT REPORT

• The group noted the report.

9 BROADENING HORIZONS

• Mr Cook and Year 8 students from Maffra Secondary College joined the meeting to survey committee members for their Broadening Horizons projects.

10 NEXT MEETING

The next meeting No. 165 of the Macalister Customer Consultative Committee is scheduled for 10.00 am on Tuesday, 25 September 2018, at Southern Rural Water, Maffra.

Meeting Date MCCC 162 Tuesday, 27 February 2018 MCCC 163 Tuesday, 24 April 2018

MCCC 164 Tuesday, 22 May 2018

MCCC 165 Tuesday, 31 July 2018

MCCC 166 Tuesday, 25 September 2018 MCCC 167 Tuesday, 23 October 2018

MCCC 168 Tuesday, 18 December 2018

11 MEETING CLOSE

The meeting closed at 12.50pm.


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July 2017

Sept 2017

Oct 2017

Dec 2017

Feb 2018

April 2018

May 2018

July 2018

Sept 2018

Oct 2018

Dec 2018

Brad Missen

Raelene Hanratty

Graeme Anderson

Stephen Dwyer Apol

Jeanette Howie Apol Apol

David Read Apol

Norm Drew

Jason Scicluna

Malcolm Sellen Apol

Alan Clyne

Hans Van Wees NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

Robert Webber NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

- Attended MeetingApol - Notification of apologyBlank - Did not attend

MCCC Meeting No. 166 – Tuesday 25 September, 2018

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5. BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS

6. PRINCIPAL MATTERS

6.1 CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT

• Mr Missen will provide his report.

6.2 MATTERS REFERRED FROM THE BOARD

• No items referred from the board.

6.3 MANAGER WATER SUPPLY EAST UPDATE

• Mr Clapham will provide an update, including:o Allocation reviewo Water Share auctiono Allocation saleso Storage update/release strategy

6.4 MID2030 UPDATE

• Mr Enever will provide an update.

6.5 LAKE WELLINGTON LAND AND WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN

• Mr Clapham will discuss.

6.6 FEEDBACK REGISTER (RELEVANT TO MID)

• August 31, 2018 - Anonymouso Can the roads please be reinstated - pipeline work under road was

completed over 6 weeks ago but the road has still not been resealed. Iunderstand this was meant to take place when the road was opened andthere has been ample time for this work to be completed. Damage is beingcaused to vehicles which is unnecessary and the roads are a mess. Roadsin question are 3 sections of Heyfield-Upper Maffra Road, 1 section ofTinamba - Glenmaggie Road & 1 section of McLachlans Road. Thecontractors are now working near the Tinamba township so why have theynot resealed the roads they dug up? (note: all roads repaired 18/09/2018)

• September 4, 2018 – Tim Bull MPo Hi folks, I am contacting you on behalf of Mrs. Palma Dennis of 5 Dawson

Street Newry.

Palma owns a property on the Boisdale Newry Road. I am advised that herneighbour has a large dam that he uses to store water for spray irrigation.On occasions he orders too much water and it overflows onto the road andinto Kentucky Creek. I am advised that creates a serious traffic hazard formotorists.

Can SRW advise if it is aware of this problem, and if so, what assistance itcan provide to Mrs Dennis and motorists using the Boisdale Newry Road toavoid this overflow of water.


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Kind regards, Anthony (note: customers contacted, responses sent to all concerned parties)

7 GENERAL BUSINESS

8 FOR NOTING

8.1 INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE

• Nil

8.2 OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE

• Nil

8.3 COMMUNICATIONS REPORT

AUTHOR

Bernadine Phelan, Communications and Engagement Manager

Media

• Rusty Shovel cheque handover• Farming for Success media coverage• Payment Help social media campaign• MD to leave SRW at end of year – sent to all local media and Weekly Times• 2018 Rural Water Awards are now open – social media• MID Irrigators 100% high reliability water – print and social media• Industry briefing for MID2030 next stages of works – print and social media• Social media sharing included:

o Rural Women’s Networko AgVic Young Farmer scholarshipso RUOK Day

. Publications

• District updateso Sent out end July; included profiles on new MCCC memberso Spear-point issue covered in Diversions newsletter

Customer, stakeholder and community engagement

• The MID2030 Southern-Tinamba Modernisation project - support for the stage 2 meeting 13August, email updates and the joint meeting with stage 4 customers on 13 September.

• Planning for an SRW led farm visit for stage 4 and stage 2 customers to visit several stage 2sites to see first-hand the infrastructure on-farm post-installation

• Early planning for meetings in Oct for Newry, Stratford and Nuntin customers to updatecustomers on Phase 2 business case in development

• A successful completion to the Broadening Horizons 2018 Collabor8 Expo

• Several tours of Glenmaggie and MID: schools, Rural Medical Graduates, other agencies

• DELWP senior staff tour of the MID modernisation works


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• Wellington Farming for Success forum – attendance and sponsorship of coffee van

Website/e-newsletter updates • Website

o Allocation updates o MIA updates e-newsletter format

Case studies • Rural Water awards – the irrigation regional winners are Ash and Liza Mezenberg • Website being updated to feature video packages with customers talking about their

modernisation / rationalisation experience.

8.4 PRICE SUBMISSION AND CUSTOMER CHARTER

Subject: Price Submission and Customer Charter

Action: For noting

Author: Hayley Johnson, Manager Business Services

Date: 29/08/2018

PURPOSE

1. To advise the committee on the outcomes of the recent Price Submission, and seek feedback on subsequent updates to our Customer Charter.

RECOMMENDATION: That the committee

• notes the information contained in this briefing

• endorses the proposed changes to the Customer Charter

PREVIOUS COMMITTEE CONSIDERATIONS

2. We engaged with the committee throughout development of our 2018 Price Submission.

BACKGROUND

3. In September 2017 we finalised our 2018 Price Submission to the Essential Services Commission (ESC). The price submission proposed limits for our pricing for the next 5 years, and also proposed new service standards. The ESC released its final decision in June, which effectively accepted the proposals from our price submission.

4. Under the regulatory framework, we are required to update our Customer Charter. Our Customer Charter must align with the ESC’s Rural Water Customer Service Code. Our charter was last updated in 2014, and since then the ESC’s code has been updated to include:

• revised service standards (as proposed in our Price Submission)

• new provisions requiring protection for customers affected by family violence


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5. The Rural Water Customer Service Code advises that before adopting or varying a customer charter, a water business must consult with its customers. Consultation with a customer service committee constitutes consultation with customers.

PRICING OUTCOMES

6. Our 2018 Price Submission proposed no real price change for MID tariffs, i.e. CPI only.

7. Within this, water share prices for 2017-18 changed by less than CPI, due to the additional

entitlement volumes following the distribution of water savings

8. As agreed with the committee, our proposed revenue cap will provide a contribution of around $10m towards MID2030 Phase 2.

9. For customers with groundwater or unregulated surface water licences, our Price Submission included:

• average price reductions of 2.3% per annum (before CPI) on annual fees

• removal of licence renewal fee (absorbed into annual fees)

• simplification of application fees

SERVICE OUTCOMES

10. Our previous Water Plan established a complex set of weighted service measures. In the 2018 Price Submission we established a revised set of service measures, which includes:

10.1. channel pool performance

10.2. delivery efficiency

10.3. delivery reliability

10.4. customers with access to DMS

10.5. release of water savings

10.6. sample survey questions for assessing customer satisfaction with various aspects of service.

11. The charter will be updated with these service measures.

FAMILY VIOLENCE PROVISIONS

12. A new inclusion is wording for customers impacted by family violence. The ESC requirement is for Water Corporations to, among other things:

• promote customer safety by providing for the secure handling of information about those who are affected by family violence, including in a manner that maintains confidentiality

• specify the approach to debt management and recovery where a customer is affected by family violence, including but not limited to:

(i) the recovery of debt from customers with joint accounts; and

(ii) the circumstances in which debt will be suspended or waived


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13. We are proposing the following wording go into the charter:

Family violence poses substantial risk to the health and wellbeing of our customers. SRW actively endorses measures to support customers experiencing family violence. SRW has comprehensive processes to support customers experiencing family violence. Support will be respectful and sensitive with a focus on safety and wellbeing as well as debt or payment assistance. The Business Services Team will provide individual case managers to customers experiencing family violence. Customer information is not disclosed to perpetrators and that any information provided is accessible only by authorised staff (our case managers). SRW will provide a dedicated phone line available to the customer preventing the need to retell their story to another person. Where there is (or has been) a joint account, it is acknowledged that routine privacy protections may be at risk. Through the case management approach, SRW will endeavour to uphold a customer’s confidentiality and minimise the risk of inadvertent disclosure. Such accounts will be “flagged” and referred to case managers. Throughout individual case management, customers will not have their supply restricted nor any legal action or additional debt recovery costs applied while engaging with a case manager. Any debt recovery that has already commenced will be suspended until the matter is out of case management. Awareness training is provided to all SRW staff including as part of the induction for new starters. The Business Services Team will continue to undertake specialised training due to the complexity and sensitive nature of the work involved in family violence. Information regarding SRW’s approach to family violence is outlined in numerous policy and procedure documents with links to these documents quickly and easily accessible on the website. A hardcopy can be provided upon request. These documents are reviewed periodically to ensure information is relevant and current.

ATTACHMENTS: Current Customer Charter

http://www.srw.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/CustomerCharter_2013.pdf 9 SALINITY UPDATE

• See attached presentation.

10 NEXT MEETING

The next meeting No. 167 of the Macalister Customer Consultative Committee is scheduled for 10.00 am on Tuesday, 23 October 2018, at Southern Rural Water, Maffra.

Meeting Date MCCC 162 Tuesday, 27 February 2018

MCCC 163 Tuesday, 24 April 2018 MCCC 164 Tuesday, 22 May 2018

MCCC 165 Tuesday, 24 July 2018

MCCC 166 Tuesday, 25 September 2018

MCCC 167 Tuesday, 23 October 2018 MCCC 168 Tuesday, 18 December 2018

11 MEETING CLOSE

http://www.srw.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/CustomerCharter_2013.pdf

http://www.srw.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/CustomerCharter_2013.pdf

mccc agenda - southern rural water · 2019-08-28 · mccc meeting no. 165 – tuesday 31 july,...

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