Directors have been selected for the new body to govern much of Melbourne’s water.

Victoria’s Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) has appointed a new board of directors to Greater Western Water, ahead of operations commencing on 1 July 2021.

Greater Western Water will be the new entity that brings together City West Water and Western Water to service communities in the inner and outer western Melbourne region.

The inaugural nine-member Board includes a balance of new directors and previous City West Water and Western Water directors, which the authorities say will ensure fair representation of both organisations and a mix of required skills.

The inaugural Chair is David Middleton, who has been Chair of City West Water for the past six years, while the new Greater Western Water board also includes City West Water board directors Bruce Cohen and Tania Fryer and Western Water directors Llewellyn Prain, Claire Filson and Liza McDonald.

New members to the board include Matthew Burns, a Taungurung man and CEO of Taungurung Land & Waters Council, Efim Tkatchew, a chief financial officer and Linda White, a lawyer with previous board expertise.

The selection process was overseen by an independent selection panel, chaired by former CEO of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority Ben Hubbard.

The remaining water corporation and CMA board directors will be announced later this year to commence appointments on 1 October 2021.