Our planning framework

The Integrated Planning and Reporting (IP&R) framework guides the way local government plans, documents and reports its future strategies. The IP&R Framework begins with the community’s aspirations for a period of least 10 years, considered by each newly elected council and which is underpinned by a suite of integrated plans that set out a vision and objectives and hones down to specific actions to achieve those aspirations. It involves a reporting structure to communicate progress to council and the community as well as a structured timeline for review to ensure the goals and actions are still relevant.

Community Engagement Strategy

The Community Engagement Strategy is based on social justice principles and details how we engage with our community to prepare the Community Strategic Plan.

Community Strategic Plan –THE CLARENCE 2032

The Community Strategic plan is the overarching document for all plans and policies of the Council. It identifies the community’s aspirations and priorities for the future of the local government area. It creates the vision we are working toward.

Delivery Program

The Delivery Program is the key directional document for the term of the elected council. It is developed by a newly elected council and adopted before the end of June in the year following the election. It presents as a statement of commitment to the community by outlining the focus the council intends to contribute toward achieving the long term aspirational goals of the community as identified in the Community Strategic Plan. It should be noted that successive elected councils contribute toward achieving the aspirations of the Community Strategic Plan.

Resourcing Strategy

Without sufficient resources - money, people and assets, the objectives of the Operational Plan cannot be achieved. The Resourcing Strategy consists of three components: Long Term Financial Plan – a ten year financial plan, often presented as more than one scenario that informs decision making and planning. Workforce Management Strategy – a minimum four year strategy that addresses the human resourcing needs and challenges of the organisation in achieving goals. Asset Management Strategy – a minimum ten year strategy that is supported by Asset Management Plans that details the management and maintenance strategies for assets within the ownership of Council.

Operational Plan

Supporting the Delivery Program is an annual Operational Plan prepared by the General Manager and staff. The Operational Plan defines quite specifically how the commitments of the Delivery Program will be achieved by detailing what the organisation will deliver where, how delivery will be resourced, at what cost and who is accountable for action as well as how performance is measured. Also detailed, is the community’s satisfaction with the service and the level of importance they place on it. Satisfaction is indicated by shading in the thumb (the higher the greater the satisfaction) and the level of importance is stated. This information was obtained from the Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020, which sought community view of our external services. The survey is independent and undertaking very second year, it will be completed again in mid 2022. The Operational Plan is a document of organisational accountability. The Operational Plan is intrinsically linked to staff performance with outcomes reflected in individual workplans. The Clarence Valley Council’s Operational Plan is prepared by the organisation’s leadership team in consultation with coordinators of teams and staff who delivery services and activities. We have also included in the Operational Plan a status report of strategies, plans and key documents adopted by the Council, the annual capital works program by funded service, the detailed budget by funded service and the Revenue Policy.