Upper Ovens Licence Renewals
GMW is pleased to announce our review of the Upper Ovens Water Supply Protection Area licence term and licence renewal fee are now completed.
Licence Terms
We will be implementing an extension of the licence term from 5 to 15 years for all Take and Use Licence and Licence to Operate Works customers in the Upper Ovens River Water Supply Protection Area. This means customers will still have to pay the same fee associated with their licence renewal, however the term of the licence now covers 15 years instead of five years saving $93 a year.
The 15 year licence term is also now consistent with other licence fee structures in other Water Supply Protection Areas and/or groundwater areas.
Our fact sheet explains in more detail the background and steps GMW has taken throughout this process.
The change to the term of the licence will be made in the coming weeks. Upper Ovens customers will now be issued with a fifteen year Take and Use Licence and Licence to Operate Works, dated from 1 July 2020. If you have not yet paid your fee, you will be required to pay that by 30 June 2021.
Licence Renewal Fee
In line with our commitment to Upper Ovens customers last year, we have been through our renewal costs at the most detailed level and reviewed the timing and cost of the inspection regime and all associated administration activities.
Therefore, the outcome of the review of pricing is that the Licence Renewal Fee will not change.
Thank you to our customers and Focus Group
In August 2020 we formed the Upper Ovens Customer Focus Group to help us achieve a better outcome for our licence holders.
We would like to thank the Upper Ovens customers who raised these matters with us and partnered with us to achieve this goal. They gave up many hours, considered technical papers and contributed to robust discussions that informed our reviews and enabled us to achieve this outcome together.
Next steps
We will now issue Upper Ovens customers with a new 15 year licence. In the meantime, if you require any further information about the licence term or licence renewal fees, please contact our Customer Experience Team on 1800 013 357 or email reception@gmwater.com.au
Resources
Annual fixed charges and licence renewal fee comparison
| |
Unregulated Diverters' and Groundwater Annual Fixed Charges |
Licence Renewal Fee |
| Timing |
July each year |
Prior to licence expiry (in the case of Upper Ovens WSPA diverters every 5 years). |
| Fees |
Service Fee: $119/account
Service Point Fee - Unmetered: $144 each
Service Point Fee - Metered (excluding D&S): $374 each
Access Fee:
- Unregulated Diverters - $76 each
- Groundwater - $134 each
Resource Management Fee:
- Unregulated Diverters - $2.96 per ML
- Groundwater - $4.06 per ML
|
Initial comprehensive renewal including property inspection ($700).
GMW is investigating a five-yearly Administrative Renewal to be undertaken at the intervening five and ten years end of licence tenure period.
|
| Fee description |
Service Fee: A share of the total cost of keeping records, managing accounts and maintaining and improving GMW's accounts system.
Service Point Fee: The cost of compliance monitoring, measuring use and meters at each diversion site (also known as a service point).
Access Fee: The cost of ensuring water is accessed in line with management rules and plans. The access fee includes managing allocations, rosters, restrictions and water ordering.
GMW is moving away from charging the Access Fee on the basis of megalitres a diverter users, and moving towards charging based on the number of service points a diverter has. By July 2019, the Access Fee will be charged solely on the number of service points a diverter has.
Resource Management Fee: For groundwater and unregulated surface water diverters, the resource management fee contributes to the cost of developing and reviewing resource management plans.
It helps to ensure essential information such as water sharing arrangements, resource caps, trading rules and water resource monitoring is up to date and readily available.
|
The licence renewal fee is associated only with the administration, processing of the application and property inspection for the associated licence.
The fee is the costs associated with the property inspection (as well as administration and licencing processing cost) to ensure individual licence holders are compliant with licence and works conditions to ensure the overall sustainability of the water resource for all users.
The inspection confirms the licence conditions:
- Section 51 Licence to Take & Use Water
- Compliance with existing licence conditions confirmed
- Licence description confirmed
- Extraction point details confirmed
- Land on which the water may be used confirmed
- Section 67 Licence to Operate Works
- Compliance with existing licence conditions confirmed
- Description of Licenced Works confirmed
- Description of Licenced Works (type of pump) confirmed
- Land on which works are located confirmed
- Section 40 and other matters to be considered
|
Diversions typical customer bill
| GROUNDWATER |
| |
2019/20 |
2020/21 |
$ Change |
% Change |
| Small |
$576 |
$478 |
-$97 |
-17% |
| Medium |
$1,523 |
$1,137 |
-$205 |
-13% |
| Large |
$3,100 |
$2,657 |
-$443 |
-14% |
| Extra Large |
$6,080 |
$5,195 |
-$885 |
-15% |
| SURFACE WATER UNREGULATED |
| |
2019/20 |
2020/21 |
$ Change |
% Change |
| Small |
$407 |
$345 |
-$62 |
-15% |
| Medium |
$766 |
$687 |
-$78 |
-10% |
| Large |
$1,206 |
$1,072 |
-$134 |
-11% |
| Extra Large |
$2,835 |
$2,499 |
-$336 |
-12% |
For information on the Upper Ovens Water Supply Protection Area click here.
If you have any questions about Upper Ovens Water Supply Protection Area licence renewals please contact:
- Stephen Gemmill, Diversions Services East Manager - (03) 5723 3230
- Peter Clydesdale, Manager Diversions - (03) 5826 3467, or
- Fabian McCloy, Manager Customer Experience - (03) 5826 3871