9 minute read
ASSET MANAGEMENT NOMINEES
ASSET PHYSICAL CONDITION INSPECTIONS
Central Highlands Regional Council
The 2008 Queensland local government amalgamation of the four shires of Emerald, Peak Downs, Bauhinia and Duaringa Councils resulted in the formation of the Central Highlands Regional Council (CHRC), an area covering 60,000 square kilometres the size of Tasmania. The region is home to 30,000 people living in 13 unique communities of Arcadia Valley, Bauhinia, Blackwater, Bluff, Capella, Comet, Dingo, Duaringa, Emerald, Rolleston, Gemfields, Springsure, and Tieri. Servicing these communities is an asset base in excess of $1.9 billion including: • 4,600km road network • 133km piped stormwater network • 282km piped sewer network • 6 aquatic centres • 3,400 minor culverts and floodways • 189 houses, and • 38 Bridges & 80 major culverts The requirement to fund the new council’s vision and aspirations while maintaining and renewing councils existing infrastructure with limited knowledge on the condition of existing assets had started to impact on the ability to align: • Asset Management Plans, • Long term financial model, • Business process models, and • Service Levels. A once in a lifetime allocation of $3.55m approved by council and supplemented by the State Government was secured to turn data into information and information into decision making. CHRC embarked on an ambitious task undertaking condition inspections across the $1.9b asset base, The journey was an experience in expecting the unexpected and challenging a culture of “this is how we have always done it”. The outcomes were worth the journey taking the organisation to a place where discussions on asset management are commonplace in the boardroom and decisions are based on evidence.
Moreton Bay Regional Council
In June 2021, Moreton Bay Regional Council endorsed its first Green Infrastructure Portfolio - Asset Management Plan. The Green Infrastructure Portfolio - Asset Management Plan (GIPAMP) outlines Council’s approach to the management of Council’s green infrastructure assets and provides a detailed roadmap for optimising asset lifecycle cost, risk and performance. Green infrastructure assets include fauna fences, escape and refuge poles, fauna overpasses and underpasses, road pavement stencils (wildlife), nest boxes and roadside signage located across the region. The primary function of green infrastructure assets is to provide safe and ongoing movement opportunities for wildlife and to improve road safety for all road users. Collectively the financially recognised green infrastructure assets have an estimated replacement value of $11.7M. The GIPAMP identifies future investments in green infrastructure acquisitions worth $11.0M over the next 10 years. Such investments require a systematic process to guide the planning, acquisition, operation, maintenance, renewal and disposal of green infrastructure assets. The GIPAMP was developed to ensure council’s green infrastructure network is financially stable, is being managed within a sustainable economic range and ensures the assigned levels of service are responsive to network growth. The development of an asset management plan for Green Infrastructure assets demonstrates a level of network management maturity which we believe is an Australian first initiative for this type of infrastructure.
Bundaberg Regional Council | AECOM
Historically, the Bundaberg region has been developed on top of very low-lying overland flow paths without formal drainage infrastructure. This has led to significant community exposure to rainfall run-off in urban areas where surface water exceeds the capacity of the street gutters and creates ongoing nuisance to property owners. Bundaberg Regional Council currently owns and manages over $300 million worth of stormwater assets to provide local protections against rainfall run-off across the region. Recent decades have seen significant growth in Council’s assets which accentuates the need to proactively plan and manage infrastructure in a sustainable, adaptable manner. The asset management responsibility is complicated by increasing demand from the community to provide higher levels of service, changing risk environments and funding constraints. Council’s management of stormwater infrastructure has led to highly reactive investment, financially unsustainable outcomes, and no clear direction for the medium to long term. To break out of this unsustainable cycle, Council engaged in a collaborative partnership with AECOM to create an overarching Stormwater Management Strategy (the Strategy). The Strategy provides an essential framework for best practice asset management that caters for future growth, while maintaining and improving existing stormwater infrastructure. Furthermore, the Strategy defines a clear level of service for the community that employs risk-based decision making to inform long-term investment. It brings a holistic vision for stormwater management in the region by increasing awareness and education within the community, capturing social and environmental values, and identifying critical infrastructure needs.
ASSET RATIONALISATION
Cassowary Coast Regional Council
Council’s asset rationalisation project will enable Cassowary Coast Regional Council’s community to have access to fewer but better quality assets that suit the community of today and tomorrow. By being courageous and demonstrating leadership Council has resolved to rationalise a number of assets which no longer provide value to its community as they are underutilised and a financial burden to ratepayers. Through a well planned and targeted consultation process Council has been able to make some tough calls which will see over $600,000 per annum saved by its ratepayers. The savings will be used to fund new and better facilities for its community while not adversely impacting on sustainability. By adopting a plan and series of principles Council has been able to have the tough conversations and lead change that will provide a positive legacy for its community for years to come. Council conducted a comprehensive assessment of its asset base in order to determine essential assets and identify options to rationalise or dispose of those assets that are surplus to requirements, with a focus on prioritising renewal of essential infrastructure over new capital expenditure. The asset rationalisation project explored options including: • Transfer ownership • Sell building • Set lease agreements with clauses that require users and not ratepayers to renew assets • Change end of life renewal treatments, e.g. concrete to deco • Remove asset • Replace with fit for purpose asset • Increase usage through shared arrangements
SUSTAINABLE ROAD PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT PLAN
City of Gold Coast Council
The Sustainable Pavement Management Plan (SRPMP) is a City initiative to ensure the region is well placed into the future when it comes to road asset management. The SRPMP brings together key aspects of best appropriate practice asset management, setting a strategic framework to effectively manage the city’s ageing and more heavily utilised road network surface and pavements. The SRPMP identifies 32 actions across five priority areas that will ensure the City manages the $2 billion road network sustainably into the future. The SRPMP is the framework for the City’s unprecedented investment in the community to ensure roads are smoother and safer for users. The sustainable approach within the plan will:
• Provide risk-based and fit-for-purpose Level of
Service (LoS) targets which split the network into two cohorts • Improve consistency of targeted road condition across the City’s road network • Optimise programs to enable cost effective management of the City’s road pavements • Improve and extend asset life of road pavements, and • Set the City as a leading industry partner in innovation in road pavement asset management. Benefits for the community will be: • Taking a more sustainable approach to keeping our network at the required LoS • Ensuring the $62m investment on road maintenance and resurfacing is best utilised • A greater awareness for the community on when, why, and how roads will be maintained and renewed • Trialling the latest technology to reuse materials contributing to the City’s environmental and sustainability goals, and • Ensuring our dedicated crews are best utilised where the need is required.
National Heavy Vehicle Regulator
The Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project (SLGAAP) started in late 2019, when the Australian Government provided the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) with $7.96 million in grant funding over two years to assist local government road managers across Australia to undertake heavy vehicle assessments of on-road assets, such as bridges and culverts. While asset assessments have been undertaken for many years across the nation and an Australian Standard for bridge assessment (AS 5100) exists, there is no national and consistent methodology for practically applying it. The SLGAAP sought to establish a standardised approach to the application of bridge and culvert assessments, developing an Asset Assessment Framework and practical resources in a Road Manager Toolkit. The Project has successfully delivered more than 300 assessments of local government-owned bridge and culverts, nationally over 74 local government areas and has captured key data for more than 1000 assets in a centralised database. Before introducing the SLGAAP, there was no central database of local government assets, with each council area holding varying levels of asset information. Additionally, operators requiring heavy vehicle access along a route may be restricted due to unknown asset capacity. This Project relied on providing engineering assessments to support improved productivity and evidence-based access decision making, benefiting local government road managers and transport operators.
TOTAL ASSET MANAGEMENT STRATEGY PROJECT (TAMS)
South Burnett Regional Council, GenEng Solutions, ATC Consulting
The Total Asset Management Strategy (TAMS) Project, delivered by South Burnett Regional Council, provides a platform of detailed study and analysis to support the management of Council’s major investment in water and wastewater infrastructure, address emerging issues and inform sustainable, long-term strategy. This significant project has established a 30 year planning framework for the entirety of Council’s owned water and wastewater infrastructure comprising of Gordonbrook Dam, weirs, bores, treatment plants, pump stations, reservoirs and reticulation networks for communities right across the South Burnett region. The project met aspects of all strategic priorities identified in Council’s Corporate Plan 2018-2023, including: 1.Enhancing the Community 2.Growth and Opportunity 3.Environment 4.Infrastructure 5.Organisation Excellence Council was successful in securing State funding under the Maturing the Infrastructure Pipeline Program (MIPP2). The MIPP2 is a State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning Program that supports development of strong project pipelines that can be advanced from conceptual notions through to firm propositions. The completed TAMS project clearly meets this objective. The project delivered numerous independent studies under dedicated project guidance ensuring integration with prior work and organisational knowledge as well as taking full advantage of significant concurrent studies. Studies addressed growth in demand, asset condition and projected renewal commitments, water security and financial sustainability. The over-arching regional Asset Management Strategies for Water and Wastewater draw together all components and present recommendations in a format suited for consideration and adoption by Council. Importantly, financial recommendations guide Council’s consideration of full cost pricing and sustainability.
