TasWater’s customers have been instrumental in creating a long-term plan for improvements across the state. As part of their strategic plan, TasWater engaged with customers, stakeholders and regulators to find out what improvements they would prioritise for the future.
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One of their signature projects is the regional towns water supply improvement program, which aims to remove boil water alerts in 24 towns across Tasmania by August 2018.
“We have connected the dots between what customers are telling us they want and the investment we undertake in response to achieving those outcomes,” program manager Eamon Sullivan said.
“If we are going to be a trusted and respected provider of an essential service, first we have to ask customers what they want and second we have to deliver it and the strategic plan is the framework for achieving that.”
Telephone surveys focus groups and a issues paper where customers could write in and share their thoughts were all used to gather the data used in the formation of the strategic plan.
The results showed water quality was a top priority for Tasmanians closely followed by environmental compliance and dam safety.
“We know we have a lot of challenges and there is a huge scale of investment required to address this.
“However we have a plan in place to deal with it and most importantly our plan has been informed by what customers have told us was most important to them,” Eamon said.
“The timing of the individual projects in the plan are based on the issues customers said were most important to them.”
Eamon explained that the strategic plan aims to strike a balance between making improvements while also keeping it affordable for customers.
“We know affordability is a big concern for customers, they don’t want huge price increases so a 20-year plan helps to strike a balance between customer affordability, the need to fund infrastructure and to meet our compliance obligations,” he said
“It is essential we invest in the outcomes that matter most to our customers – and otherwise reduce costs where we can.
“We aren’t shying away from the problems and over time we expect other issues to emerge and and will continue to update and refine the plan.”
Eamon explained that the plan allowed them to address existing challenges but also maximise opportunities in tourism, agriculture and aquaculture.
