Benefits of scale

The Government has repeatedly talked about the need for councils to work together to achieve scale in the delivery of water services and keep costs to consumers down. In general, it is more efficient, effective, and sustainable to deliver water services to a larger number of consumers than a smaller one. A regional WSCCO offers:

• Cost Efficiency: Larger organisations reduce per-user costs for infrastructure investment, maintenance, and compliance with regulatory standards. This is because costs are spread across a larger customer base.
• Shared Expertise: Pooling resources allows access to a broader range of technical expertise, skilled staff, and operational capabilities, improving service quality and driving innovation.
• Better Resilience: A larger-scale model provides greater capacity to respond to emergencies, manage risks, and adapt to future challenges like climate change.
• Improved Investment Capability: The bigger the entity, the greater the ability to access better funding, spread costs over a wider base, and invest in critical infrastructure upgrades.
• Better Regulatory Compliance: Scaling up enables more efficient implementation of increasing health, environmental, and economic regulations. This means a greater focus on securing good environmental outcomes through more resourcing for compliance monitoring including consent conditions, and increased ability to meet compliance standards.

By achieving greater scale, councils can deliver more sustainable, affordable, and high-quality water services for their communities.