By Gladys Barreta
A growing water leak in a Melton shopping precinct, combined with the landowner’s lack of accountability, has left one concerned resident at his wit’s end.
Martin Attard who is a teacher at St Francis Catholic College discovered the freshwater leak at West Pines on his way home from work two years ago.
He told Star Weekly the leak has escalated from a minor drip to a now full running tap.
He said the drain leak located between Guzman Y Gomez and Supercheap Auto near the Bunnings Melton car park, has presumably been wasting thousands of litres of water down the drain for the last two years.
Distressed by the ongoing water wastage, Mr Attard took matters into his own hands and contacted all relevant parties in search of a solution.
However, with no success and no accountability from landowners, Mr Attard finds himself back at square one.
Greater Western Water (GWW) was contacted by Mr Attard but was unable to provide any solutions, as the leak is located on private land.
“This has been a disastrous leak of drinking water that has been going on for over two years,” Mr Attard said.
“I first reported it to Snap, Send, Solve back in early 2024 and directed it to Melton council, but nothing happened.
“I did the same thing months later and directed it to Greater Western Water, again, nothing happened.
“It seemed no one wanted to take responsibility for this waste of water.”
Mr Attard said eventually, after a series of back-and-forth emails, GWW provided him with an email address for the property owners, Citinova.
He said he called Citinova in January, and was told the matter would be looked into.
“Three or four weeks after calling, blue arrows pointing to the leak appeared overnight, but that was all, and the water was – and still is – running down the drain,” he said.
“Why is it that neither Melton council nor GWW have the power to force the owners or developer to fix this straight away?
“And why is it that all those people (in the many thousands) going in and out of Bunnings don’t do or say anything to Melton council or GWW?
“Such apathy among the community who are not seeing this as a problem. It’s like ‘see nothing, do nothing’.”
Council told Star Weekly it was unable to provide any solutions due to the leak being located on private property and not falling under the council’s responsibility.
Citinova was contacted for comment.
