(10-03-17) Combined effort produces results

The Councils in the Wide Bay Burnett region have worked closely together to ensure they obtain a good deal on fixing old sewer pipes. Cr Mick Curran, Chair of the Wide Bay Burnett Regional Organisation of Councils (WBBROC) said that the collaboration between the Councils was a great example of how Governments should work together.

The successful tender has resulted in no increase in costs for relining sewer pipes he said. This is a win in itself.

The work that will be done under this contract will also be of a high quality, Cr Curran added, as the work is inspected using special CCTV cameras at 4 stages during the process.

We have also seen a saving of 47% in the costs associated with moving all the machinery needed to reline sewer pipes. By all the Councils organizing their projects so the machinery does not have to move to other regions or other States, the company is able to pass on substantial savings of almost $60,000.00.

This project has resulted in significant cost savings to Council, allowing twice the length of mains to be relined than originally budgeted for. This is a great example of collaboration increasing cost efficiencies,” North Burnett Regional Council Acting Mayor, Cr Faye Whelan said.

Cherbourg Aboriginal Council was going to replace all of its sewer pipes at a huge cost. We are now working with them and the Department of Local Government so that they can use this tender to reline their sewer pipes instead of replacing them with new ones.  This is likely to see a saving in the order of $2,000,000 for the Cherbourg project.

Cr Curran said that it was far more economical for Councils to reline their sewer pipes rather than replace them with new ones. This can prolong the life of sewer pipes by up to 50 years, as well as saving almost two-thirds of the costs.  This means we don’t have to pass on those costs to our ratepayers Cr Curran added.

The successful tenderer was Abergeldie Watertech who are part of the Abergeldie Complex Infrastructure group. They will be completing the work over the next two years.  Greg Taylor, CEO of Abergeldie Complex Infrastructure said “Abergeldie Watertech is excited to be part of this innovative regional project and looks forward to delivering critical sewer rehabilitation works in communities throughout the Wide Bay Burnett region.”

Cr Curran expressed his thanks to Fraser Coast Regional Council for managing the tender on behalf of the other Councils. This save 5 of our Councils having to duplicate this process and so is also a saving to all of us.

WBBROC has other tenders under way or in the pipeline, but Cr Curran did point out that Councils were looking at tenders where there was no local suppliers. All the Councils are keen to support local businesses wherever we can he said.

WBBROC is hosting a Procurement Roundtable in the near future and one of the things it will look at is how business can be supported and trained in completing government tender documents.