Precinct 15 is a 66ha site in Altona North that will transition from existing industrial uses to a residential mixed-use neighbourhood of 7,000 people with 3,000 homes, town centre, commercial office area, large central park and four local parks.
E2Designlab were commissioned by City West Water (CWW) to work with Melbourne Water (MW) and Hobsons Bay City Council to prepare an IWM Plan to support the Comprehensive Development Plan and provide guidance and requirements for the multiple developers. It was critical that it aligned with the CDP and stakeholder strategy/policy. The plan was developed collaboratively (including developer feedback) and was matched to the capabilities of those who will deliver the infrastructure and the asset managers (both maintenance and governance).
The aggregated ‘precinct wide’ performance was used to set a minimum performance standard for each IWM objective. The IWM Plan provided:
- Minimum standards of performance expected of developers for nominated IWM objectives.
- ‘Deemed to comply’ pathways from the initial responses received from individual developers so that they may attain these standards.
- An approved shortlist of IWM options from which developers may assemble their preferred IWM strategy if they do not wish to use the ‘deemed to comply’ pathway.
All scenarios were modelled in MUSIC and costed with a comparison of the Benefit Cost Ratio of various elements provided to Council. The project scope was modified at no cost to provide council with four individual briefing documents to inform their negotiations with each of the four major developers.
Precinct 15 is an example of Melbourne Water and a progressive water retailer providing support and helping Council build capacity and transferable knowledge. It informs the derivation of developer focussed objectives and reasonable performance targets and the means to attain them. Projects such as this provide background for MW to inform and influence councils metropolitan wide.