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6.3 Estate Caretaker

Lake Bennett Estate has a contracted caretaker for day-to-day common-property upkeep, site watch on infrastructure, green waste / landscaping, and coordination with the Corporation and specialist contractors (ENVR, electricians, plumbers).

Item Detail
Contract holder Lakeside Upkeep and Tech — lakesideupkeepandtech@gmail.com
Role Estate caretaker (grounds, site checks, green waste, landscaping)
On-site contact Tim Earl — 0417 892 281
Reports to Lake Bennett Body Corporate / committee — lakebennettcommittee@gmail.com

Specialist WWTP monitoring, sampling, and Orenco plant servicing stay with ENVR Solutions (0402 524 033). Caretaker WWTP compound duties are summarised here and detailed in 3.2.15 OWMS Operations, Maintenance and Contingency Table 1.

Role

Under the Lakeside Upkeep and Tech caretaker contract, the caretaker:

  • Keeps common-property grounds tidy — mowing, weeding, rubbish removal, and general landscaping on estate areas (including the WWTP compound and land application areas as required)
  • Walks the estate regularly and watches for leaks, odours, vandalism, pooling, blocked drains, damaged signs or lights, and anything that looks wrong at pump stations, pits, tanks, or the WWTP fence line
  • Operates authorised common-property plant (mowers, whipper snipper, mistblower, chipper) per Section 7 Plant and Equipment
  • Supports green-waste arrangements — kerbside Thursday pickup and the hill 6.2 Green Waste Processing Area (pile order, access, fire risk awareness)
  • Is the local contact for backup generator changeover / hire coordination on prolonged outages — see 3.3.2 Backup Power and 1.4 Contact Information
  • Follows ENVR instructions for on-site incident response and simple fault rectification within caretaker competence; escalates electrical, plumbing, and WWTP control faults to the named contractors
  • Keeps notes of maintenance done, faults found, call-outs arranged, and equipment replaced, and reports issues promptly to the committee (and to ENVR for OWMS plant)

Daily OWMS Duties

At the WWTP and irrigation areas, Table 1 in 3.2.15 also assigns the caretaker daily weed/rubbish removal and a general walkover for leaks, vandalism, issues, and odours. Those daily items sit under the weekly grounds and site-watch rhythm below.

Weekly Checks

Check Action Escalate if
WWTP compound grounds Mow and tidy as required; remove weeds and rubbish inside the enclosure Access blocked, fence damage, strong odour, visible spill or alarm sounding
Land application / irrigation turf Mow and groundskeep as required; note bare patches, pooling, or spray issues Pooling, broken laterals/nozzles, wet spots outside the LAA
Estate walkover Walk roads, foreshore common areas, pump-station compounds, and tank/hill area; look for leaks, vandalism, dumped rubbish, damaged street furniture Anything unsafe or likely to worsen before the next visit
SSP / pit compounds (visual) Note lids, fencing, odours, wet ground, and obvious alarms or unusual noise at SSP1–SSP5 Continuous alarm, sewage overflow, or pump running abnormally
Green waste Confirm Thursday pickup path is clear; check hill processing piles are sorted and access is usable Fire risk, blocked access, piles mixed or overflowing
Plant and fuel Confirm mowers and hand plant are serviceable and fuel/oil are adequate for the week Machine unsafe or overdue service — see Section 7 pages

Monthly Checks

Check Action Escalate if
Emergency access surface Visual check of emergency access routes for washouts, soft spots, and debris — see 4.4 Emergency Access Route not usable by emergency vehicles
Table drains and culverts Walk known drains/swales (including west-side Pit 5 / SSP5 drain) and storm entries; clear light debris Blocked culvert, erosion toward a road or pit — arrange contractor if beyond hand clear
Solar street lights Note dark or damaged poles while walking; report faults to the committee Pole leaning, vandalism, or cluster of failures
Community facilities Quick check of picnic / foreshore common areas for damage, rubbish, and trip hazards Structural damage or ongoing dumping
Water hill / tank compound Visual check of tank compound fencing, access, and obvious leaks or chlorine-shed housekeeping Leak, chemical smell outside normal dosing, or shed unlocked when it should be secured
Committee report Summarise faults fixed, open issues, and contractor call-outs for the month Urgent faults — do not wait for month-end

Six-Monthly Checks

Check Action Escalate if
Pre-wet / mid-year drainage Deeper clean of table drains, swales, and storm entries ahead of the wet (and again mid-cycle as needed) — see 4.1 Internal Roads Culverts need machine clean-out or road edge failure
Vegetation clearances Trim vegetation that is closing in on emergency access, hydrant/valve markers, SSP compounds, and WWTP fence lines Clearance needs arborist / larger plant
Signage and markers Inspect road, emergency-access, and infrastructure markers; list replacements Missing critical emergency or isolation markers
Green waste area fire readiness Review burn-pile rules, access for fire response, and fuel load around the hill piles Unsafe burn conditions or uncontrolled vegetation against piles
Plant register Confirm Section 7 machines, manuals, and spare items (hooks, Gatic lifters, ear defenders, etc.) are present and accounted for Missing safety-critical tools or unsafe plant
Manual / contacts currency Confirm caretaker still has current 1.4 numbers and knows open 5.1 Planned Works Stale contacts or unknown outages

Yearly Checks

Check Action Escalate if
Road condition walk Walk sealed and gravel common roads; note potholes, edge break, and gravel that needs grading — feed the annual sealed-road review Defects that need Fulton Hogan / grading contractor
Wet-season readiness Before the wet: drains clear, emergency routes passable, generator hire path rehearsed with committee, SSP compounds accessible Access or power contingency not workable
Dry-season / fire awareness Review vegetation against compounds, green-waste piles, and bush edges; confirm extinguisher / response contacts known High fuel load against plant or dwellings
Support ENVR annual plant work Provide site access and local assistance when ENVR does annual pump-intake cleans, UV lamp changes, and related Table 1 annual items Plant fault found during annual service
Records tidy-up File or hand to committee the year’s maintenance notes, incident/fault list, and equipment replacements Gaps in WWTP or safety-related records
This page / training Confirm caretaker procedures still match site practice; refresh generator and plant induction if needed Procedure drift or new plant not documented

Escalation

Situation Contact
Immediate life / fire / medical 000
WWTP alarms, treatment faults, recycled-water issues ENVR Solutions — 0402 524 033; then committee
Electrical faults Top End Electrical — 08 8945 5684 / 0438 486 603
Plumbing / pump replacement Absolute Plumbing NT — Damien Mahony — 0408 234 428 (OWMS); Saunders / HD Pumps per 1.4 for water
Prolonged power outage / generator Committee + Kennards hire path in 3.3.2; caretaker on-site for changeover
General estate / roads / owners lakebennettcommittee@gmail.com
Version Control
Version Date Description
1.0 2026-11-01 Initial Release — estate caretaker role; weekly, monthly, six-monthly, and yearly checks
1.1 2026-11-01 Lakeside Upkeep and Tech holds the caretaker contract; Tim Earl on-site contact

Next Review Date: 2027-05-01