Consent for minor waterway work

If you are planning to perform minor works on waterways you must get our consent.

​Work may include:

• bank stabilisation – repairing beds and banks that have eroded or collapsed due to the natural elements
• desilting – removing silt deposits or from around structures
• bore hole testing, monitoring or other works

To prevent further erosion of waterway beds and banks or protect a property there are specific engineering solutions. You will need to engage a qualified engineer to submit a detailed design for approval.

Any works undertaken without Melbourne Water approval will be considered illegal under the Water Act.

Application process

Documents required

To apply for our consent for your proposed works, we need the following information:

• brief description of proposed works
• detailed engineering drawings
• work method statement
• site location
• location details
• reasons for removal or reinstatement
• schedule of works
• environmental reports (AAV, cultural AAV)
• environmental reports
• geotechnical reports
• a site-specific survey

Approval process

If we approve your application, we will send you a letter outlining any specific conditions you must meet as part of our approval.

You must respond with a written acceptance to comply with our conditions, and pay the relevant fees.

All contractors who carry out works on live assets are required to have a Permit to work.

Inspections may be required at different stages of the works (a letter of approval will confirm this requirement).

Duration

We are currently receiving a high volume of applications due to growth in demand for our services, which has unfortunately created significant delays. We acknowledge your patience and will make every effort to process your applications as soon as we can. View our current processing times.

Fees

Fees differ depending on the proposed work. We will advise you of the amount once we assess your application.

Please note this application fee is non-refundable.

Fees and security for construction, works and connections

Important information

Your application may experience a delay if there are any issues. Delays in the application process may happen if:

• The information and documentation are incomplete or missing.
• We need to further investigate the complexity of the development.

We assess applications on a case-by-case basis and will notify you of the following outcomes once we have completed the review.

1. The application approved. Project can move forward. 
2. The application approved. Conditions need to be met before the project can move forward. 
3. The application declined. We will notify you of the reasons the project cannot move forward. (reasons given). 
4. Application needs to be assessed further, and we need more information.

Contact us

If you need any help completing this application, contact us on 131 722.