Victorian Desalination Project Community Liaison Group
Minutes from Meeting Number 35 on 29 November 2012
Date:
Thursday 29 November 2012
Location:
Bass Coast Shire
Present:
John Nicol (Chair)
Peter Sammut (DSE)
Meeka Bailey (DSE – Secretary)
Natalie Haynes (DSE)
Chris Herbert (AquaSure)
John Ridley (AquaSure)
Louisa McPhee (AquaSure)
Steve Burns (Thiess Degrémont)
Karen Lee (Thiess Degrémont)
Cr Clare Le Serve (Bass Coast Shire)
Allan Bawden (Bass Coast Shire)
Neville Goodwin (Bass Coast Community Representative)
Ian Anderson (Cardinia Community Representative)
Sonia Rappell (City of Casey Council)
Apologies:
Beverley Hastie (City of Casey Community Representative)
Cr Stuart Halligan (Cardinia Council)
1.
Welcome / Introductions / Apologies
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Mr Nicol welcomed everyone to the 35 CLG meeting and tabled apologies. He thanked the
Brorsens for the use of their property to hold the meeting and also welcomed both Cr Le Serve
and Mr Bawden to the meeting.
2.
Minutes of previous meeting
The minutes were adopted as drafted.
3.
DSE update
Mr Sammut updated the group on DSE activities and detailed the IREA findings for the
months of September and October. There were no non-compliances, no areas for
improvement and no observations. He noted that as construction was essentially completed it
would be expected there would be few findings at this stage.
Mr Sammut explained to the group that liaison with landowners along the easement is
continuing with 43 per cent of cases settled.
He noted that some cases are going through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
(VCAT) at the moment. In these cases a conference of valuers is held to negotiate an agreement on
the value of land and final amount of compensation, although the undisputed portion of the offer
is paid prior to settlement. The majority of landowners are waiting for reinstatement to be
completed before finalising their negotiations with DSE.
Fences have started to come down on a small number of properties along the easement. Once
the fences have come down, rental payments will cease. Landowners must remember to follow
the guidelines in the Memorandum of Common Provisions registered on title for the easements,
and contact Dial Before You Dig on 1100 if they plan to do any digging in the area of the easement,
and to contact the project parties for other land uses on the easement. He reminded the group
that there was good signage along the easement reminding landowners to Dial Before You Dig
and that this must continue to be reinforced. A brochure will soon be sent to landowners by
AquaSure. Landowners can always contact AquaSure or DSE if they have questions.
Mr Bawden asked if Dial Before you Dig only applied on the easement. Mr Sammut replied that
it was on the easement and in its vicinity but that it was good practice to call Dial Before You Dig
before doing digging in any area in order to check for a range of underground infrastructure.
He also explained that maps of the easement area relevant to Dial Before you Dig enquiries could
be found on the DSE website at http://www.water.vic.gov.au/initiatives/desalination/dial-beforeyou-dig. Mr Herbert commented that there had already been a number of Dial Before you Dig calls
to date.
Ms Rappell noted that the Clyde North area was residential and asked about the impact of the
easement of potential subdivisions. Ms Sammut replied that as part of any proposed
subdivision, proponents would contact DSE to determine the most appropriate way of
incorporating the easement into the subdivision. DSE could in turn consult with its project
parties where relevant. He explained that the developers could still subdivide the land but the
easement conditions of use continue to apply. This could be done in a number of ways,
e.g. orienting the blocks so that the easement is behind or in front of the block. The easement
could be included on a subdivided block. He noted that any subdivisional arrangements could be
discussed with DSE’s Director of Property Tim Holden. He also commented that it was for the
council and the developers to initially decide the best way in the first instance.
Action: Ms Bailey to provide Ms Rappell with Mr Holden’s contact details.
Mr Goodwin asked if you could still plant trees along the easement. Mr Sammut replied that
permission was required to undertake certain activities on the easement as per the
Memorandum of Common Provisions. Some species may receive permission be planted but that it
was best to contact DSE and/or AquaSure beforehand.
Mr Sammut also informed the group that the Project Deed requires the State to lease the plant
site and associated infrastructure to AquaSure via a Crown Lease. As part of finalizing these
arrangements, AquaSure will lease Crown land under the ground, dunes and seabed for the plant
site, marine tunnels and intake and outlet structures. The Land Act requires this to be advertised
prior to the Minister for Environment and Climate Change issuing the Crown Lease (to be done
by Reliability Finalisation Testing). This advertising has been placed in the Government Gazette
and South Gippsland Sentinel Times. Mr Sammut informed the group that any enquiries with
regard to the Crown lease could be forwarded to Ms Bailey.
Mr Goodwin asked if this was the original lease being signed now. Mr Sammut explained that the
lease for the plant site was issued in 2009. Construction of the marine facilities was
undertaken through a licence and that the Crown Lease was required for the operational
phase of the intake and outlet tunnels and marine structures. This was simply a procedural
process.
4.
AquaSure/Thiess Degrémont Presentation
Mr Burns showed the group an artist’s impression of the plant site illustrating what the
desalination plant would look like as part of AquaSure’s bid proposal submitted in 2009. He then
showed the group a photo that was recently taken of the plant site and noted that it looks like
the artist’s impression. The plant site is barely visible from all public viewing points as dune
construction is being completed.
Mr Burns updated the group on construction progress noting that the construction phase is
nearing completion and TDJV is in the final stages of commissioning. Solid waste has been
classified in accordance with EPA requirements and is being transported to SITA’s Taylors Road
facility in Dandenong South. The Chair commented that the previous mayor of Bass Coast Shire
Council would be pleased as she had reported concerns from the local community that the
waste would go to a local landfill.
Cr Le Serve asked if there were any plans to use the final waste product for composting
purposes. Mr Burns explained that there was a lot of research being done around the world on
this matter and that it wasn’t suitable for composting at this point in time. Mr Herbert
explained that the waste was a wet clay of mostly mineral rather than organic material. Mr
Bawden asked if the waste product was what was initially expected. Mr Burns replied that there
was less waste than anticipated at the moment because of good sea conditions but that the
quality of the waste always depended on the quality of the seawater. Mr Burns commented
that the Taylors Road facility had a membrane lining, which was necessary in managing the
water component of the waste.
Works remaining at the plant site generally includes landscaping – TDJV is progressing well on
the ecological reserve. Walking trails, viewing platform, toilet block and picnic shelter are well
underway.
The plant is consistently producing high quality water as specified in the contract. The final 30day reliability testing to demonstrate the plant can operate at full capacity is on track for
mid-December completion. The plant will be handed over to the Operations and Maintenance
(O&M) team once the reliability test is complete. All work after handover is done under O&M’s
management system and plans.
He also noted that along the pipe and power easement, there are a few locations where the power
assets are close to the boundary of the permanent easement and acquisition of a small area of
land is required in order to ensure the infrastructure has the necessary safety clearances. The
total area across the easement length is less than 100 square metres. He explained that the
issue occurred where the power cable was pulled around corners and it was hard in a few
instances to keep the surveyors pegs in place in wet weather conditions.
Mr Burns showed the group some images of work along the easement including the
compensation stations in Clyde North and Lang Lang, and the surge tanks on Kilcunda Ridge and
Gurdies St Heliers Road.
Ms Rappell asked if there had been any decisions made with regard to potential surplus land at the
booster pump station site. Mr Sammut replied that no decision had been made with regard to
whether the land was surplus land. Once this was determined, the appropriate processes for
disposal of this surplus land would be followed. This will also consider any rights Melbourne
Water may have regarding the land.
Ms Rappell commented that SR Graphics had recently won an award at the 2012 Australian
Institute of Landscape Awards for their artist’s impressions of the plant site. Mr Burns thanked Ms
Rappell for raising this.
Mr Herbert commented that the surge tank photographs were quite old and that the site
actually looked much better as reinstatement was further ahead than what was depicted. Mr
Burns agreed and noted that the spoil had been removed and that the grass was growing.
Mr Herbert explained to the group that there was still work to be done in the ecological
reserve including the completion of the paths and the planting. He noted that this area would be
restricted until the works had been completed.
He also noted that Mike Jury, a resident of Cape Paterson, is the plant director during O&M. He
explained that TDJV and PLJV would soon disappear and that it was time to say good bye to both
Mr Burns and Ms Lee as the O&M team would soon be taking over.
Mr Herbert informed the group that AquaSure had recently had a meeting with the Clean
Ocean Foundation and that a request had been made for the plant site neighbours to see the plant
site at night during full operation.
5.
Community Update
Ms Lee informed the group that TDJV would be hosting a second open day on Sunday 2
December 2012. She noted that there had been a lot of interest in the tours and they were
completely booked out now. She noted that there were approximately 20 people on the
waiting list and that another 30 more had visited the Information Centre wanting to book onto
tours. She explained that TDJV was logistically unable to fit any more buses into the schedule.
She also explained that a number of local community groups were involved in the day Wonthaggi Rotary, SES, St Johns, Wonthaggi Historical Society, Anglican Church and Lions Club.
Ms McPhee commented that TDJV wanted to give visitors an onsite experience so the tour would
include getting off the bus to visit to the administration building and the reverse osmosis building
as well as tasting the final water product.
Ms Lee also reminded the group that the local Anglican Church and Lions Club have been
distributing office furniture and equipment from the desalination plant into the community over
recent months as TDJV demobilises. Community groups and schools have received office furniture,
stationery, whitegoods and building material.
Ms Lee informed the group that TDJV would be closing the doors of its community information
centre on 30 November after welcoming nearly 15,000 visitors. Since construction began, TDJV
has interacted with 25,000 people including at the centre, delivering nearly 200 presentations to
school and community groups, hosting nearly 200 site visits, attending 22 local shows and events.
Ms Lee noted that Rosemary Swart has moved over to the O&M team as their Community
Liaison Officer and that the 1800 number and contactus@aquasure.com.au email would soon be
handed over to O&M to manage.
Mr Bawden thanked Ms Lee for her work, noting that she had done a good job and that the
centre had been very useful in dealing with requests and issues. Mr Ridley underlined the
success of the communications activities, many of which originated from the Community
Information Centre. He pointed out that surveys had shown increasingly good results through the
construction phase.
6.
Community representatives
Mr Goodwin informed the group that he had recently met with Minister Walsh through his work
as Chair of Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority.
He informed the group that he saw issues ahead in terms of pasture but that he felt those
matters could be dealt with as they arose. He noted that some works still needed to be done on
roads but that many of them were looking better than they did before the project started. Mr Burns
commented that Tom Everitt would be staying with the project for a while longer as a continuing
contact for landowner matters.
Mr Goodwin also noted that he was having very few calls or complaints with regard to the
project.
Action: Mr Burns to provide Mr Everitt’s contact details to Mr Goodwin.
Mr Anderson noted that many of the gravel roads in Cardinia had stood up well to the
number of construction trucks that had used them during the construction period. He commented
that he was glad to see that reinstatement on the many sites and along the easement was
continuing but noted that he thought that fences should stay in place until the pasture had
established itself. He noted that there were a number of frustrated landowners who still couldn’t
get in to manage their reinstated land. Mr Anderson finished by noting that he was pleased with the
process that had occurred over the past three years.
Ms Rappell informed the group that Ms Hastie was no longer a councillor and that council had
deferred appointing a new member to the group in consideration of how much longer the group
would be meeting for.
The Chair noted that Ms Hastie was welcome to still attend the meetings as the Casey
Community Representative.
Cr Le Serve informed the group that she had recently participated in a tour of the site and that
she was pleased with how quiet the site was during operation. She noted that it was a great
experience and that would be nice to see the project continue to give tours of the site as it was a
wonderful piece of infrastructure. The Chair congratulated Cr Le Serve on not only winning the
election in her area but also on being nominated mayor. He wished her well on her term.
7.
Other Items
The Chair noted that the next CLG meeting was planned for February and that Mike Jury and
Rosemary Swart would be attending in place of Mr Burns and Ms Lee. He also explained that there
might be a need for a final meeting in April to discuss reinstatement.
Mr Anderson commented that if the plant achieves Commercial Acceptance as scheduled that
he thought there wouldn’t be a need to meet until April unless the Chair felt there was one. The
Chair agreed and noted that the next meeting would be in April unless he and Mr Sammut
decided there was a need to meet earlier.
The Chair thanked everyone for participating in the meeting and noted that the group had the
recognition of some high level people on the project, many of whom attend the meetings regularly.
He thought that the group was successful overall in developing the project.
He thanked Mr Sammut for inviting him to chair the meetings and noted that having the
project in the middle of a 225 hectare reserve was a great feature. He noted that the
community would need to embrace the project as the benefits were far reaching. He concluded by
wishing everyone the best for 2013.
Meeting closed 11:45am
8.
Next meeting
To be confirmed.