NORTH East Water (NEW) is inviting customers to participate in its next round of community engagement as it develops its next Price Submission, which sets out the proposed fees and charges customers will pay from July 1, 2026. NEW managing director Jo Murdoch said North East Water had already engaged customers through focus groups, workshops, surveys, pop-up kiosks, webinars, and a bill simulator. “The next phase, starting in early 2025, is a crucial part of our engagement – a deliberative forum that will run over five sessions from late-January to mid-March,” Ms Murdoch said. “The forums will bring together a diverse group of customers who will learn about key issues, share ideas, and provide recommendations on North East Water’s future direction. “With our communities growing and our climate changing, we want to hear from people on how we can plan together to deliver safe, reliable, sustainable, and affordable services for future generations.” NEW is seeking residential and business customers from across its service region to participate in the deliberative forum. “You don’t need special skills or expertise to join, just an interest in helping to shape our proposed future prices and services,” Ms Murdoch added. “The forum will be asked to consider feedback from earlier customer and community engagement, weigh up different services, infrastructure investments and trade-offs, and provide recommendations for the good of the entire community. “Around 45 people will be independently selected to take part in the forum that will represent a cross-section of customers from our region.’ People that are selected to take part will receive an honorarium of $170 per full-day session and $85 for the orientation session (total of $765), payable in mid-March 2025. Those interested in participating can register their interest at www.newater.com.au/ps. Registrations close at 5pm Friday, December 13, 2024.
