Securing Statutory Approval for a
$3 Billion Asset
Sydney Desalination Project
Achieved statutory approval for the $3 billion Sydney Desalination Plant in 2006 — a decision that secured Sydney’s long-term water resilience and enabled one of the state’s most significant infrastructure investments.
Situation
Sydney’s drought vulnerability had reached a critical point. Government agencies needed a future-proof water source, yet public sentiment was divided, environmental impacts were contested, and the technological pathway remained under intense scrutiny.
David was engaged as Project Manager for Stage 1 of the Sydney Desalination Project, leading the GHD engineering and planning team embedded within Sydney Water and GHD Fichtner.
The task: determine the right technology, the right location, and the environmental case strong enough to withstand government, community and regulatory challenge.
Role
As the lead Project Manager, David carried responsibility for coordinating a 40-person multi-disciplinary team, shaping the technical, environmental and strategic foundations of the project, and producing the Environmental Assessment that would determine approval.
This required precise judgment, stakeholder diplomacy, and the ability to align engineering complexity with statutory and public expectations.
Key steps
David’s leadership set the trajectory for the project’s ultimate success. He:
Directed detailed technological, siting, pipeline-route and environmental studies to identify the optimal project configuration.
Led the investigation that ultimately confirmed Kurnell as the preferred site — balancing operational feasibility, environmental risk, and long-term strategic benefit.
Coordinated technical inputs across engineering, environmental science, planning, and risk.
Authored the Environmental Assessment that formed the core submission to government — the document that carried the weight of scientific justification, statutory compliance, and community impact analysis.
Built a transparent, evidence-based narrative capable of surviving political, regulatory, and public examination.
Outcome
In 2006, the Sydney Desalination Plant received statutory approval — a watershed decision that unlocked construction of a $3 billion facility now central to Sydney’s water security.
Key outcomes included:
Final confirmation of Kurnell as the preferred site.
Completion of concept design and technical foundations.
Government endorsement of the Environmental Assessment led by David.
A framework for future environmental and infrastructure approvals of comparable scale.