General News
19 January, 2022
Hull appointed community panel chair
Fay Hull is set to chair a community panel for GWMWater to establish the future of water and wastewater management in the region.
FAY Hull is set to chair a community panel for GWMWater to establish the future of water and wastewater management in the region.
The role of the Community Panel is to provide opinion, advice and recommendations on GWMWater’s pricing proposals and matters of significance, for the 2023-2028 Water Price Review Submission to the Essential Services Commission.
The former Ararat mayor was appointed for her ability to draw on a wealth of experience in governance and community engagement to help guide the process.
Ms Hull said it was a privilege to be selected to fulfil the role of chair.
“It will be a challenge but I want to ensure the people on the forum are well informed about how everything works so at the end they have a valued contribution to the water board,” she said.
“The main thing is for the forum to listen to the water board and the information they present, they need to feel free to ask questions and at the end come up with a worthwhile submission.”
Ms Hull said the success of the Community Panel was reliant on attracting a diverse group of community members to provide feedback on GWMWater’s proposals to improve or maintain service across its large geographic footprint.
“I encourage people from all walks of life to apply to join the community panel,” she said.
“I think it’s very important that people from the community have their say.
“Offering your time to share your views gives you the opportunity to influence the outcome.”
GWMWater chairman Peter Vogel said being part of the panel did not require any special knowledge or expertise.
“It’s a great opportunity for community members to shape all dimensions of GWMWater’s service offering to communities,” he said.
“We would like to hear from customers in the Grampians, Wimmera and Mallee regions from all sectors of the community.”
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Ms Hull said the Essential Services Commission required that there be community consultation for the submission.
“I think this is an excellent way to do that,” she said.
“The submission to the commission needs to include the wishes of the community and this gives the opportunity to do that.
“I would like members of the community, and this is open to everybody, who may not have done something like this before and are interested in how the water board works to put their hand up.”
The Community Panel will meet for up to five half days from March to June 2022.
To find out more or to express an interest in being part of GWMWater’s Community Panel, please visit https://bit.ly/PS2023.
Expressions of interest close on January 31, 2022.