WIMMERA farmers are worried they will lose their voice after GWMWater scrapped three customer committees.
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The committees comprised people on the land and regional water experts who worked together to ensure the sustainability of the region.
The three committees, Grampians, Mallee and Wimmera, will be replaced with stakeholder workshops every six months.
Brim farmer and Wimmera committee member James McFarlane said he had doubts about the new workshops.
‘‘It’s probably taking a little bit of the emphasis away from hearing what the public has to say,’’ he said.
‘‘A lot of people with expertise in their communities will be the biggest loss.
‘‘People on those committees know what’s going on in their own patch.’’
Grampians customer committee member Bob McIlvena has more than 50 years’ involvement with water issues in the Wimmera.
‘‘Speaking to other members of the committee, their opinion was that we were of some value. I fear they’re going to lose a lot of local knowledge in the changeover,’’ he said.
Mr McIlvena said committee members had been invited to participate in the new system.
Callawadda farmer and Northern Grampians councillor Kevin Erwin, a member of the Grampians committee, said he believed customer volunteers had been invaluable sounding boards for GWMWater.
‘‘There were some people who had been on those committees for a long time and had a vast knowledge,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s a balance, you do need some expertise and you also need some fresher ideas – no one’s the keeper of all knowledge.’’
The Grampians committee represented customers who accessed water through standard supply and groundwater systems; the Wimmera committee represented customers serviced by the Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline; and the Mallee committee represented customers supplied with water from the Murray River.
GWMWater customer relations Helen Friend said the company had changed its engagement model and wanted to move away from the formal committee structure.
‘‘We wanted to engage with a broader cross section of our stakeholders,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s absolutely no reflection on the former customer committees and we encourage all those members to participate in our new framework.’’
The new workshops will include a wide range of organisations such as Wimmera Uniting Care and health organisations.
Mrs Friend said more than 130 stakeholders had been invited to participate in the next workshop on May 6.
Laharum resident and Grampians committee member Gil Hopkins said he believed people should continue to raise their individual issues with GWMWater as they arose.
The removal of the customer committees comes as the state government last week sacked GWMWater’s board.
Water Minister Lisa Neville said new water boards would be in place by October 1.
‘‘Victoria needs diverse and highly skilled people to deal with the environmental and economic challenges of the future – climate change, rainfall variability and rapid population growth,’’ she said.