Protecting Melbourne's Water Supply: The replacement of the Morang to Preston water main
Client: Melbourne Water
Context provided expertise in community consultation and heritage identification and assessment to Melbourne Water as they started on a major project to replace 10 kilometres of 150-year-old water main. Also known as the Yan Yean pipeline, this water main is Melbourne’s first and its oldest and supplies the city and Northern suburbs.
Balancing the urgent need for the work against the impact it would have on local communities was a major concern for Melbourne Water, as was the need to identify and protect heritage places along the pipe track – Aboriginal, and historic and important Indigenous plants and trees.
Before work began on replacing the water main, Context undertook archaeological and heritage surveys that identified new sites of cultural and heritage significance and worked with Melbourne Water, the Aboriginal community and Heritage Victoria to ensure that heritage values were protected during construction work.
A community consultation strategy involved identifying stakeholders along the 10 kilometres of pipeline then communicating with them about possible impacts of the construction work and working out ways to reduce the impacts. Meetings with key stakeholders, regular newsletters and personal contact through doorknocking were some of the methods used.
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