Wagga Wagga City Council acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land, the Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri people, and pays respect to Elders past, present and future and extends our respect to all First Nations Peoples in Wagga Wagga.
We recognise and respect their cultural heritage, beliefs and continuing connection with the land and rivers.
We also recognise the resilience, strength and pride of the Wiradjuri/ Wiradyuri and First Nations Communities.
Background
The Community Strategic Plan (CSP) 2050 – Wagga Wagga 2050 provides the direction and guidance for the Wagga Wagga community moving forward. This document defines Council’s priorities, future vision and strategic focus areas well into the future.
This plan develops key inputs and focuses for Council’s long term planning and identifies long term outcomes, strategies to get there and how they will be measured. This document must address four (4) key questions:
1. Where are we now?
2. Where do we want to be in a minimum of 10 years time?
3. How will we get there?
4. How will we know we have arrived?
The vision for the future as outlined in Council’s Community Strategic Plan (CSP) 2050 is; “Wagga Wagga - a vibrant, growing and sustainable regional city”.
As part of Council’s Integrated Planning and Reporting (IP&R) framework, Council is required to develop, document and report on plans for the future of our community. As part of this framework, Council is required to develop a Resourcing Strategy which articulates the resources required to deliver the outcomes of Council’s Community Strategic Plan. One part of the Resourcing Strategy is the Asset Management Strategy, including the broader asset management framework that includes the Asset Management Policy and Asset Management Plans.
The below is a representation of Council’s IP&R framework and how the asset management resourcing strategies fits in with other Council planning strategies and documents.
Context
Purpose of the strategy
The Asset Management Strategy (the Strategy) is a ‘living’ document aimed at improving Wagga Wagga City Council’s asset management processes and procedures.
The assets managed by Council are fundamental to the liveability of the City. They connect people and places, they create spaces where people can meet for recreation, cultural and community activities and they provide safe environments for residents and visitors alike. Assets make the city a great place to work, play, live and learn.
The Strategy outlines how Council will manage these assets on behalf of the community. The Strategy acknowledges that Council has limited resources, and not all infrastructure assets managed by Council can be maintained at a level which always meets community expectations. Through good asset management practices Council can prioritise its resources to obtain the best value for money within its limited budgets. The strategy will focus on the following infrastructure asset networks:
• Building assets – administration, recreational facilities, community facilities, halls and emergency services buildings.
• Recreation assets – fencing, irrigation, lighting, playgrounds, park accessories, public art, shade sails, shelters and sporting equipment.
• Sewer assets – sewer mains and manholes, pump stations and treatment plants.
• Stormwater assets – levee banks, stormwater pipes and pits, stormwater pumps, gross pollutant traps (GPT’s) and channels and detention basins.
• Transport assets – bridges, bus shelters, carparks, culverts, kerb and gutter, footpaths and shared paths, sealed roads and unsealed roads.
Goal of Asset Management
Council’s asset management goal is to cost-effectively meet the defined level of service for present and future consumers. The benefits of these assets must exceed the associated costs for use by present and future generations.
Asset Management Framework
Council is required to prepare an Asset Management Framework as part of our Integrated Planning and Reporting requirements.
Council’s Asset Management Framework consists of the:
• Asset Management Policy,
• Asset Management Strategy, and
• Asset Management Plans.
The Asset Management Plans for buildings, recreation assets, sewer, stormwater and transport assets underpin this Strategy and form part of Council’s Resourcing Strategy. The Resourcing Strategy articulates the resources required to deliver the outcomes from the Community Strategic Plan, Delivery Program and Operational Plan. The Asset Management Plans influence the development of Council’s other resourcing strategies, the Long Term Financial Plan and Workforce Plan. As a minimum, Asset Management Plans should undergo annual monitoring and review to reflect any changes in asset condition or service level of the asset portfolio, in conjunction with any changes in funding provided for in the Long Term Financial Plan.
Asset data is a fundamental keystone in asset management planning documents. This data includes information about the extent and location of each of Council’s asset networks. It allocates a value and useful life to each asset within the asset register.
Through monitoring and reporting, Council will continue to review and implement improvements to our asset management practices.
Asset Management Strategy review
The Asset Management Strategy will be reviewed every four (4) years in line with the Integrated Planning and Reporting (IP&R) documents. It is required to be updated within 12 months of each Local Government election.
As this Asset Management Strategy is a ‘living’ document, it may also be reviewed and adjusted from time to time to reflect changes in the current state of Council’s assets and asset management practices.
Strategic directions and objectives
Planning for the community's assets
Objective
• We have a plan for how the community’s assets will be managed.
• Data is the basis for our asset plans and guides how assets are managed.
• We implement our plans and measure our effectiveness.
Managing the community's assets
Objective
• Assets are managed to meet the defined service levels.
• We pursue innovation and new technologies in maintaining and renewing assets.
• We rationalise and consolidate assets where appropriate.
Growing the community's assets
Objective
• We manage the growth in the asset networks.
• Our assets adapt to meet the community’s needs.
• Our new and upgraded assets align with forecast growth and support development.
Planning for the community’s assets
Council faces the challenge of maintaining a financially sustainable position as roads, footpaths, buildings, recreation, sewer, flood and stormwater assets age and require additional maintenance and ultimately renewal. Council must balance the maintenance and renewal of existing assets, along with acquisition of new assets. Council must plan for long term asset management including the financial and human resources required to deliver the required levels of service for our Community.
The condition, utilisation and functionality of each individual asset must be recorded and used to prioritise maintenance, renewal and upgrades. This data is to be stored in a system which can produce models to show the effect of budget decisions on the long term condition of each asset within each network.
Asset renewals required to meet agreed service levels identified in each adopted Asset Management Plan will inform the Long Term Financial Plan, and every attempt will be made to adequately fund these renewal requirements within the constraints of Council’s financial capacity. The funded renewals will then be included in Council’s Delivery Program and Operational Plans.
Managing the community’s assets
The assets exist to meet the needs of the community. The parks, sports fields, community buildings, footpaths and shared paths, stormwater drainage, sewer and transport assets all exist to service the current and future needs of the community. The right assets enable places and spaces to be liveable, healthy and connected. Therefore, it is essential we assess the usefulness of existing assets and ensure they meet the needs of the community and rationalise the network when they do not. Strategic directions and objectives
The importance of the community’s assets and their significance in relation to Council’s budgets means their management is a critical part of planning and service delivery. Council exists to provide services to the community and assets support many of these services. Council aims to provide these services to meet the defined level of service expected by the community, in the most cost-effective manner for present and future generations, whilst managing the potential risk associated with the failure of these assets.
We pursue innovation and new technologies in the operations, maintenance and replacement of the community’s assets. We will trial new ways of doing things, assess and document the results and change practices to better alternatives where practicable.
Growing the community’s assets
Wagga Wagga is a growing city and a large proportion of the future growth will be greenfield development. Any new development must be linked to the rest of the city by an efficient local road network. It needs to have appropriate infrastructure within the new precincts and cooperation between the private sector, local, state and federal government is fundamental to the success of this development.
The encouragement of urban development within close proximity of the CBD, must also be supported by appropriate infrastructure. This will see the need for more footpaths on local roads to promote walkability, active living and neighbourhood shopping and shared paths or cycleways linking people to key destinations. It may also see the need for more infrastructure to support public transport, like bus and taxi shelters.
The expected increase in population will see the need for our current assets to be adaptable. Community meeting places, parks and open spaces will be required to accommodate more people and support a wider range of uses, our existing transport, sewer and stormwater networks will all be required to have the capacity to accommodate higher utilisation.
Growth in the networks will also be a result of the desire to make Wagga Wagga a great place to live. Current Council strategies include more parks, BBQ and picnic areas, more footpaths and shared paths, more youth recreational facilities in the rural villages, a shared zone in the CBD and upgrades to multiple recreational facilities.
Council will ensure assets are managed in a sustainable manner, by taking a whole of life approach. Council will consider the whole of life and long term costs of acquiring, maintaining, upgrading and disposing of all assets and we will renew assets over their lifecycle to minimise our long term costs. These whole of life costs will be reported and considered in all decisions relating to new assets and the renewal or upgrade of existing assets.
Planning the community’s assets
Objective - We have a plan for how the community’s assets will be managed.
Strategies
• Prioritise asset maintenance, renewal, upgrade and disposal plans based on criticality and condition data.
• Annually review and update projected annual costs for the operation, maintenance, renewal, and upgrade of asset networks.
• Develop service levels which reflect the needs of the community.
• Develop asset management plans for the community’s assets which have at least a 10-year outlook.
• Include a sustainable and financially responsible funding scenario endorsed by the community for all asset networks within each asset management plan.
• Develop risk management plans for the community’s critical assets in concert with the Local Emergency Management Plan.
• Annual measurement of Council’s asset management practices against the Asset Management Plans.
Objective – Data is the basis for our asset plans and guides how assets are managed.
Strategies
• Store all asset data in Council’s asset management system.
• Develop and measure condition, utilisation and functionality of each asset category.
• Identify and review critical assets and develop strategies to manage them.
• Develop and predict whole of life costs for each asset category.
• Develop predictive models for significant asset categories, optimising long-term network condition changes for various funding levels scenarios.
• Continually review and update Council’s asset data.
Objective – We implement our plans and measure our effectiveness
Strategies
• Short term asset maintenance, renewal, upgrade and disposal work schedules are based on prioritised plans.
• Annually report on works completed against priorities from asset maintenance, renewal and upgrade plans.
• Monitor and report on the implementation of the asset management improvement plan.
• Measure the change in the maintenance and renewal funding gap for each asset category.
Managing the community’s assets
Objective – Assets are managed to meet the defined service
Strategies
• Assets are maintained to meet or exceed their predicted useful life.
• Renewal budgets are allocated to assets based on condition, function and utilisation.
• Open space, recreation and community assets are upgraded to become multi use facilities. Transport, sewer and stormwater assets are upgraded to cater for growth of the city.
Objective – We pursue innovation and new technologies in maintaining and renewing assets
Strategies
• Trial new and emerging technologies for the maintenance and renewal of assets across the network and explore corporate opportunities to reduce carbon emissions.
• Investigate, trial and document results of alternative road seals to continuously improve the useful life of the asset.
• Investigate, trial and document results of alternative footpath and kerb and gutter options in areas where street trees are planted to continuously improve the functionally of the assets and preserve the trees.
• Investigate, trial and document results of water saving technologies in irrigation systems to continuously improve the functionality of the systems.
• Investigate, trial and document non-asset solutions to asset management problems.
• Find opportunities to share the cost burden of asset maintenance and renewal.
Objective – We rationalise assets where appropriate
Strategies
• Review off-street carparks in the CBD and rationalise where appropriate to encourage walking and cycling in the area.
• Review the usage of small pocket parks and rationalise the asset base where there is currently more than one park in the neighbourhood.
• Review the building network and rationalise the asset base to create multi-use spaces which enable a wide range of activities to be held in the space.
• Review all assets in conditions 4 and 5 to assess if they remain fit for purpose and identify for disposal if appropriate.
Growing the community’s assets
Objective – We manage the growth in the asset networks.
Strategies
• New and upgraded assets are only considered if they are identified in Council’s adopted strategic documents with evidence that benefits outweigh future whole-of-life costs.
• Whole of life costs are considered in the approval process of all new and upgraded assets and factored into the Long Term Financial Plan to ensure ongoing Council sustainability.
• As the infrastructure networks increase, budgets for operations, maintenance and renewal need to increase.
Objective – Our assets adapt to meet community needs.
Strategies
• Models are developed to show when infrastructure networks will reach capacity in response to the growth of the city.
• Infrastructure network assets are strategically upgraded to support the growth of the city rather than increasing the network as development construction commences.
• Plan and build multi-functional community spaces to support city growth.
Objective – Our new and upgraded assets align with forecasted growth and support development.
Strategies
• Infrastructure Plans and Contribution Plans are developed for new urban release areas alongside the review of Planning Proposals to rezone land.
• Infrastructure Contribution Plans consider sewer, stormwater, open space, recreational, community buildings and traffic.
• Strategic land use planning informs the predicted growth of the infrastructure networks.
• Council actively seeks solutions for carbon emission reduction relative to traditional construction techniques.
Improvement plan
Council commits to the ongoing review and improvement of its asset management practices. The following improvement plan outlines the tasks require for Council to continue improving its asset management processes and practices into the future.
Asset Management Maturity
Asset Data Improvement
Asset Management Framework
Undertake an organisation wide Asset Maturity assessment to determine Council’s current level of asset maturity and develop an associated improvement plan.
Develop and implement an Asset data improvement plan to ensure Council’s asset data is reliable and up to date. High
Develop a Council-wide asset management framework that outlines the importance of and requirements for reliable asset information including how and why we capture asset data, what it is used for, how it is stored etc.
Asset Management Steering Committee
Recommence regular meetings of the Asset Management Steering Committee to help drive Council’s asset management across Council.
Lifecycle Cost Reporting Development of funding scenarios for inclusion in the Long Term Financial Plan with the intention to reduce the lifecycle funding shortfall for Council’s infrastructure assets.
Asset Management Plans Implement the improvement plans identified within each individual Asset Management Plan.
