At the start of the year we opened an expressions of interest period for Castlemaine landowners and businesses considering using recycled water.

We had dozens of responses and have finished assessing applications. Customers should have been notified of the outcome for their EOI.

Recycled water is already providing benefits to the community and will continue to sustain our communities into the future. This water supply boosts environmental flows in Campbells Creek and contributes to supporting a platypus population as well as other flora and fauna.

August saw representatives from DJANDAK and Kapa Gatjin (Dja Dja Wurrung water knowledge group) conduct Aboriginal Waterway Assessments along Campbells Creek.

These assessments enhance our understanding of the environmental conditions surrounding the Castlemaine Water Reclamation Plant, located on Dja Dja Wurrung Country.

Before the assessments, Uncle Rick Nelson performed a smoking ceremony at Booladj Kiarp Bolealong (the confluence of Campbells, Barkers and Forest creeks) in Castlemaine.

Members of the Friends of Campbells Creek group were also invited to share how they contribute to the care and preservation of the area.

July saw the beginning of our community engagement for the Castlemaine Water Reclamation Plant upgrade.

We held two information drop-in sessions for key community groups, stakeholders and those who live near the plant where we were able to chat with people about what we hope to achieve with our upgrades while listening to what attendees would like to see come out of the project.

Keeping flows of treated water running to Campbells Creek to help maintain the ecosystem and wildlife within it was at the forefront of people’s minds and continues to be.

As part of our upgrade we plan to see those flows continue to help sustain the environmental benefits for the creek.

In October, we planted more than 150 native trees at our Castlemaine plant. This mix of shrubs and plants will provide more greenery and help to screen the plant site.

This project was done with the help of BushCo and is part of early site works we are doing to prepare for major upgrades to the plant in coming years. We’re excited to keep improving the natural environment which surrounds our site.

We want to be the best neighbours we can be. Throughout the year we committed to making improvements and completing minor upgrades that will mitigate noise and odours that come from the plant.

This year those works included improving our treatment processes, refurbishing our current biofilters and using noise loggers to monitor noise around the plant.

Our efforts to maintain our treatment process and ensure noise and odours are at a minimum will continue into 2025 starting with the commitment to ongoing monitoring using industry experts to help us achieve this goal

Please continue to report noise or odour to us so we can track the impacts in real-time. Please call us on 1300 363 200.

Our Development Licence Application for the Castlemaine plant upgrades was submitted to the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and advertised to the public in November.

As part of our engagement, we hosted a drop-in session at the Maxi IGA in Castlemaine and a site visit to the Castlemaine plant. About 30 people registered for a plant visit before wet weather postponed it. Some people were able to come to a rescheduled visit, but we plan to offer another site visit in 2025.

Continuing a trusted relationship with the community is a vital part of the project which is why we were excited to hear from the community and share the exciting details of the proposed upgrades.