Greater Western Water has appointed Thrive, a joint venture between AECOM and Aurecon, as its strategic planning partner for a five-year infrastructure planning and delivery program aimed at supporting growth in Melbourne’s western communities.
Under the partnership, Thrive will work alongside the Australian water utility to help guide future infrastructure investment decisions across its service area, which includes Melbourne’s inner west and rapidly expanding western suburbs. The collaboration will focus on planning for network, treatment and dam infrastructure, while addressing pressures linked to population growth, climate change and affordability challenges.
The agreement also includes support for strengthening Greater Western Water’s internal planning and asset management capabilities, with Thrive providing strategic input across the full asset lifecycle.
Mark McManamny, AECOM’s chief executive for Australia and New Zealand, said: “We’re proud to be entrusted as a core partner to Greater Western Water for this critical role supporting growth, resilience and water security for communities across Melbourne’s inner west and growing western suburbs. We’ve brought together the strength of our program management, advisory, asset management and major infrastructure design teams, and we look forward to working side by side with Greater Western Water to deliver on their strategic commitments.”
The initiative aligns with Greater Western Water’s 2030 Strategy and is intended to help the utility plan infrastructure upgrades in response to evolving service demands.
Ian Burton, Greater Western Water’s general manager of asset planning and delivery, said: “This partnership plays an important role in shaping how we plan and design infrastructure, bringing strong expertise to support projects across our service area. We look forward to working together to ensure we continue to meet the needs of our customers and communities with water and sewerage services that are safe, consistent and resilient.”
Paul Ashby, Aurecon’s water client leader for Victoria and South Australia, said the partnership would help translate complex planning challenges into integrated infrastructure strategies, supporting long-term resilience and more sustainable service outcomes for customers and communities in one of Australia’s fastest-growing regions.
