What have we learnt?

Strategic Asset Management is critical to ensuring the long-term sustainability of Councils service delivery through our asset inventory. Over the last 12 months there has been a focus on:

• Building asset knowledge and data accuracy to inform the 10- year Asset Management Plans;

• Place-based asset planning, and

• Review of asset management practices and conditions post disaster events.

Building the 10-year Asset Management Plans

Over the last 12 months Council has focused on understanding our asset knowledge and data accuracy with the goal of building accurate 10-year Asset Management Plans. Accurate 10-year Asset Management Plans allow Council to make informed decisions regarding capital and operating expenditure and understand the risks associated with under or over budgeting. In 2022/23 the following asset inspections were undertaken/ are underway:

• Road Pavement Condition Assessment, including specific location inspections where failures were identified

• Building Inspections

• Retaining Walls

• Marine Assets

• Street Lighting Review

• Ramp leading to Westfield Hurstville

• Quarterly Playground Inspections

• Hurstville House, Hurstville

• CCTV of stormwater network at areas of concern

• Street Tree Review

Place-based asset planning

Georges River is a signatory to the NSW Public Spaces Charter and is committed to the ten principles which aim to provide everyone in NSW with access to high-quality public space, allowing them to enjoy and participate in public life. A keyway Council is embedding these principles is through our Asset Management practices.

Council has created a dedicated Strategic Placemaking team to strategically manage Council assets as well as prioritise planning through a place-based approach. In practical terms, this is the combination of skills including engineering, placemaking, architecture and urban design skills. The multi-disciplinary team works together with Councils delivery teams to plan, design and execute projects at a place-level an example is incorporating naturalisation, landscaping and shared pathways into stormwater projects.

Review of asset management post disaster events

Georges River Council was declared a disaster location on two occasions in 2022, AGRN 1012 February 2022 and AGRN 1025 June 2022. The impact of these events on Council’s infrastructure assets is cumulative in nature, some of the impact will not be seen for months or years to come due to the deteriorating effect over the life of the assets.

A report to the Assets and Infrastructure Committee on the 12 September 2022 outlined the conservative financial impact being $2,324,587. This figure at the time was based on insurance claims on Council owned property and the cost associated with emergency and immediate works for the AGRN 1012 February event and its ongoing impacts. The Georges River Local Government Area was not impacted as heavily by AGRN 1025, rather seeing cumulative impact of sustained rainfall as the ground retained moisture.

As comprehensive asset condition assessments are undertaken, Council will be afforded a better understanding of the long-term impacts. For example, the 2022 Road Pavement Condition Assessment (June 2022) identified that approximately 13% of the road network was showing lower or poor serviceability due to severe flooding related pavement damage from 22 February 2022. These asset inspections will see updates made to the 10 year Asset Management modelling for asset classes.

Council is working to create a more resilient community by undertaking comprehensive Hydrological Investigations at high-risk areas in the network to inform future projects. This is achieved by increasing the irrigation and drainage to support community assets such as Renown Park and Carss Bush Park Playground and investing significantly more money towards our critical assets such as roads.

Where are we now?

Georges River Council manages approximately $1.45 billion of infrastructure assets that provide essential services to our community. These assets include roads, buildings, footpaths, drainage, and passive and active open space. The level of service delivered by these assets is largely determined by the way they are maintained and managed.

Asset Inventory:

Council’s Infrastructure Asset Inventory maintains details of fair, replacement value, accumulated depreciation, useful life and carrying amount for each asset and asset class, along with historical information relating to revaluation and impairment.

Value:

The table below displays the value of major asset classes where:

• Replacement costs is the current cost to replace an asset on a like-for-like basis.

• Depreciated replacement cost also known as fair value is the value of an asset after accounting for depreciation, cost in the marketplace.

• Depreciation expense CRC/ divided by useful life. Useful life refers to the period over which an asset is expected to be available for use by an entity.

Asset Classes

This document covers Transport Assets, Open Space Assets and Building Assets with a high level of confidence. Work is still required to understand Councils Stormwater Asset inventory. This will be a focus area for 2023/24.

Transport Assets – a snapshot

Council relies on its large portfolio of Transport Assets such as roads, footpaths, kerb and gutter, carparks, bridges, retaining walls and traffic management devices to support the movement of our community. The current gross replacement value of these assets is $811M.

Based on 22/23 asset data the forecast of 10-year total outlays (acquisition, operation, maintenance, renewal, and disposal) is estimated at $191.5 million or $19.15 million on average per year. Based on current budget the estimated available funding for the 10-year period is $125 million or $12.5 million on average per year as per the Planned Budget. This is 65.3 % of the cost to sustain the current level of service at the lowest lifecycle cost.

The anticipated Planned Budget for Transport Assets leaves a shortfall of $6.65 million average per year of the forecast lifecycle costs required to provide current service levels.

Roads – a snapshot

Roads are Council’s largest asset to manage, both in asset quantity and asset value. An important measure of road assets is the Pavement Condition Index (PCI).

The above figure shows the August 2022 Pavement Condition distribution. Based on the distribution, majority of the network is in “Very good” or “Good” condition. However, in contrast, approximately 13% of the road network has been showing lower or poor serviceability. It has been estimated as approximately 70,000m2 - 75,000m2 additional road surface area required urgent or immediate or essential road patching to make the road section safe and serviceable due to severe and continuous rain event throughout 2022.

To retain a network average of good, Council Officers are recommending an increase to the Road Renewal budget from approximately $4million to $10.7million for the 23/24 budget.

Open Space – a snapshot

Open Space Assets provide opportunities for active and passive recreation, general leisure, memorials, and environmental protection. They include, sport and fitness facilities, playgrounds, park furniture, hardstands, marine assets, lighting, fencing & walling, signage and monuments

Based on 22/23 asset data forecast of 10-year total outlays (acquisition, operation, maintenance, renewal, and disposal), Open Spaces Assets are estimated at $178.5 million or $17.85 million on average per year. Estimated available funding for the 10-year period is $117million or $11.6 million on average per year as per the Planned Budget. This is 65.48% of the cost to sustain the current level of service at the lowest lifecycle cost.

The anticipated Planned Budget for Open Space leaves a shortfall of $ 6.2 million on average per year of the forecast lifecycle costs required to provide current services.

The above graph is based on expenditures calculated for FY21/22. The graph shows the asset renewal budget is short of required renewal. It should be noted that Council Officers are currently modelling acquisitions and disposals, and they are not shown in this graph.

Buildings – a snapshot

Councils Building Assets support Georges River Council and local community groups to deliver services to our community. Buildings are made up of multiple assets which include:

Based on 22/23 asset data the forecast 10-year total outlays (acquisition, operation, maintenance, renewal, and disposal), Building Assets are estimated at $103 million or $10.3 million on average per year.

Estimated available funding for the 10-year period is $69million or $6.9 million on average per year as per the Planned Budget. This is 66.72% of the cost to sustain the current level of service at the lowest lifecycle cost.

The anticipated Planned Budget for Building Assets leaves a shortfall of $3.4million on average per year of the forecast lifecycle costs required to provide services in the asset management plans.

Planned Budget compared to lifecycle costs. Black line is representative of Planned Budget based on 21/22 figures.

This graph is based on expenditures calculated for FY21/22. The graph shows the asset renewal budget is short of required renewal. It should be noted that Council Officers are currently modelling acquisitions and disposals, and they are not shown in this graph.

Lifecycle Management

There is a consistent theme across all asset classes, we currently do not allocate enough budget to sustain these services at the expected standard or to provide all new services being sought.

Works and services that cannot be provided under present funding levels are:

• Forecast renewal works, based on useful lives of assets;

• All maintenance and operations required, this leads to decisions being made on operations and maintenance priorities, and

• The acquisition of all planned assets and effectively managing them.

Risk Management

Our present budget levels are insufficient to continue to manage risks in the medium term. The main risk consequences are:

• Public safety and risk of injury

• Decreased levels of service and service removal

• Reputation and Legal risk

• Preventative maintenance not occurring affecting useful life of asset

• Renewals not occurring in a timely manner reducing useful life of asset

Council will endeavor to manage these risks within available funding by:

• Forward planning for asset renewal and maintenance of critical and high risk assets

• Ongoing safety inspections of assets to support their prioritised repair within available budget

• Continuously pursuing external funding sources to improve existing assets

• Ongoing professional development and education of key asset management staffs to remain relevant on current trends, innovation, and industry standards

• Advocating for increased renewal funding from State and Federal Government

Where do we want to be?

Goals and Objectives of Asset Ownership

Councils goal for managing infrastructure assets is to meet the defined level of service (as amended from time to time) in the most cost-effective manner for present and future consumers.

The key elements of infrastructure asset management are:

• Building strategic alignment to Council Strategies;

• Providing a defined level of service and monitoring performance;

• Managing the impact of growth through demand management and infrastructure investment;

• Taking a lifecycle approach to developing cost-effective management strategies for the long-term that meet the defined level of service;

• Identifying, assessing and appropriately controlling risks, and

• Linking to a LTFP which identifies required, affordable forecast costs and how it will be allocated.

The Plan 2022 – 2032

The Plan 2022 - 2032 is our second Community Strategic Plan (CSP).

This revised CSP progresses and extends the previous community strategic plan, bringing on board new and previous community feedback and aspirations.

The Plan identifies the following six pillars that underpin our work for the community:

This document has been prepared in line with the six pillars outlined in the Plan. Council’s asset Inventory plays both a direct and an indirect role in achieving the strategic objectives of Council and supporting the service delivery needs of the community.