Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works

The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (M.M.B.W.) was a public utility board in Melbourne, Australia, set up to provide water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment functions for the city. It was established under the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works Act (1891) passed by the Victorian Parliament in December 1890. This Act also made the M.M.B.W. responsible for the Government debt incurred in the building of the Yan Yean water supply, an amount then in excess of 2 million pounds. Under the M.M.B.W Act, the M.M.B.W. was empowered to impose a Metropolitan General Rate for water supply and sewerage on properties in the "Metropolis" ( being "The City of Melbourne and the Suburbs thereof"). (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/hist_act/mambowa1890414/)

Designed along the London model, there was no initial planning for a separate storm water management system. After increased urban development in the 1920s a need for improved metropolitan drainage (in particular drainage infrastructure involving more than one municipal district) was identified. Under the 1923 Metropolitan Drainage and Rivers Act the M.M.B.W. became responsible for metropolitan main drains, for which it was empowered to imposed a drainage rate. Local Councils remained responsible for local drainage. http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/hist_act/mdara1923319/

In 1949 the M.M.B.W. was authorized to prepare a comprehensive plan for Melbourne and the metropolitan area through an amendment to the 1944 Town and Country Planning Act, in 1954 the board was made the chief planning authority for metropolitan Melbourne (for which it imposed a "Metropolitan improvement rate" for its responsibilities under the Town and Country Planning Act 1958), until these planning responsibilities were passed to the Ministry for Planning and Environment in 1985.http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/volume-hansard/smaller/Hansard%2052%20LC%20V424%20May-Jun1995/VicHansard_19950530a.pdf The responsibility for the construction and maintenance of metropolitan highways and bridges was vested in the Board by an amending Act in 1956, causing a great deal of conflict with the Country Roads Board, until all road responsibilities were passed to the CRB in 1974.

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