Coliban Water has started construction on a $5 million project to expand the sewer network in Heathcote, Victoria.
Manager Infrastructure, Corey Bourne, said the Heathcote Sewer Scheme project will ensure more of the community will receive safe wastewater services.
“The City of Greater Bendigo identified areas of Heathcote where there was risk of public health and environmental impacts due to on-site wastewater management systems, commonly known as septic tanks,” said Mr Bourne.
“Our project to expand our network in Heathcote ensures that wastewater is safely contained and transported to our Heathcote Water Reclamation Plant where it is treated to a standard where it can be reused for irrigation purposes.
“We are installing a total of around 10km of sewer main in areas around Bennett Street and Redleaf Close to the north of the town, and the Argyle area to the south.
“Around 150 properties are expected to connect after the completion of the project with further connections happening as vacant lots are developed.”
Construction works have started in the Bennett Street area and will move on to Redleaf Close and then Argyle.
“We’re excited to start the construction stage of this project. A lot of planning, design, investigations, assessments, approvals and community consultation goes into progressing a project like this to the construction stage.
“Cultural Heritage Management Plans were conducted to assess the potential impact on Aboriginal cultural heritage and work out the measures to be taken before, during and after construction in order to manage and protect artefacts,” said Mr Bourne.
The Taungurung people are the traditional owners in this area. The Taungurung Clans Aboriginal Corporation’s Cultural and Heritage Management Team and a heritage advisor were involved in carrying out field investigations and digging test pits along the proposed pipeline alignments.
“Ecological assessments were also conducted to identify and protect flora, particularly native vegetation, and fauna. We’ve worked with multiple agencies, including the City of Greater Bendigo, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, the North Central Catchment Management Authority and VicRoads,” Mr Bourne said.
The contractor for the project is Steve Standen Drainage and the project is expected to take around a year to complete.
