Council was presented the award at the 2018 Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) conference, which recognises excellence in the planning and delivery of public works across a range of fields, including roads, infrastructure, and leadership.

“Infrastructure delivery doesn’t come easy – especially when it involves a major overhaul of a town’s entire water cycle infrastructure in one raft of works,” council’s Director of Infrastructure, Andrew Francis said.

“When council embarked on necessary upgrades to their water management systems and assets, we wanted to ensure that the projects not only delivered water resource improvements to the town, but also to maximise the economic benefits to residents and ratepayers.”

The folio of works, totalling $100 million, comprised raw water upgrades, including dam safety upgrades and river and bore pump refurbishments; the construction of three new facilities, including a water treatment plant, sewage treatment plant and a water recycling facility; and several ancillary augmentation projects to the water mains network.

READ MORE: Recycled water soon to be flowing through new pipeline in Parkes

Rather than engaging external management to oversee the asset construction, as is usual for regional infrastructure projects, Mr Francis said council instead established an in-house specialist Project Management Office (PMO) to deliver the renewal program in an efficient and effective manner.

The PMO secured some of the most experienced and highly qualified people to oversee the projects. The PMO also facilitated collaboration between contractors and consultants, enabling a regional utility provider to attain world-class water asset standards.

While the PMO was established in 2013, the foundations for the works was set a decade earlier when council undertook its first Integrated Water Cycle Management Plan (IWCM) – a strategic document developed with significant input from expert consultants and the community – in 2004.

“Community engagement is key to everything we do,” Parkes mayor Cr Ken Keith OAM said.

“Many features of the projects have been developed in accordance with community wishes, such as the aesthetics of the architectural design, or the location of the treatment plants.

“The idea for new Recycled Water Scheme originated from the Community Project Reference Group.”

Council employed unique and progressive tendering methods not usually undertaken by local government, using the Early Contractor Involvement process and incorporating intensive workshops into the contractor selection process.

The mitigation of project risks brought savings of $8 million.

And local procurement also saw huge flow-on effects for local suppliers, Cr Keith said.

Council and the Parkes Chamber of Commerce worked cooperatively to ensure local businesses had opportunities to supply materials, labour, and support services during the construction of the projects. 

It generated a local spend of about 25 per cent of the project budget.

“By establishing a Project Management Office council has managed to deliver this once-in-a-generation infrastructure renewal on time and under budget,” Cr Keith said.

“We are incredibly proud, not only for the legacy benefits that will allow our town to grow and thrive, but for ensuring we have maximised community benefit through every step of the process.”