The main area of Council works affected by the funding gaps, is asset maintenance and renewal. The proposed special rates variation (SRV) will enable Council to carry out much needed works on roads, footpaths and parks.

Should the SRV be adopted, Council will:

Assets are rated on a scale based on their current condition as follows:

• Condition 1 - Very good. Free of defects, only planned and/ or routine maintenance.
• Condition 2 - Good. Minor defects, increasing maintenance required plus planned maintenance.
• Condition 3 - Fair. Defects requiring regular and/ or significant maintenance to reinstate service.
• Condition 4 - Poor. Significant defects, higher order cost intervention likely. Significant renewal required.
• Condition 5 - Very poor. Physically unsound and/ or beyond rehabilitation, immediate action required. Asset requires replacement.

The cost to maintain community assets has dramatically risen, increasing Council’s infrastructure backlog (the value of renewal works that need to be undertaken to bring Council’s assets up to an acceptable standard). Council’s backlog has increased from $0.6m in 2019 to $16m in 2022 which is a backlog ratio of 4.2%, above the industry target of 2%. Assets will continue to deteriorate, and the backlog will increase further without additional funding.

This graph shows the amount of Council assets that are in poor and very poor condition, and how Council’s funding proposal will change this:

Roads:

• Currently, 30.1% of roads are in conditions 4 and 5. In 10 years with the existing level of funding, this will increase to 43.1%. However, in 10 years with the proposed renewal funding, it will decrease to 15.1%.

Footpath:

• Currently, 6.6% of footpaths are in conditions 4 and 5. In 10 years with the existing level of funding, this will decrease to 2.05%. However, in 10 years with the proposed renewal funding, it will decrease even further to 0%.

Buildings:

• Currently, 7.4% of buildings are in Condition 4 and 5. In the interests of prioritising roads and footpaths, the current condition rating will be maintained.

Parks:

• An audit on parks has not yet been finalised, however it is expected the current condition rating will be maintained.

Council's plan moving forward is to decrease the asset renewal backlog in total from 4.21% to 3.1%.

Note: the industry benchmark for asset renewal is 2%.

Strathfield Council is enhancing our asset management governance in line with the recommendations from a recent ISO55000/55001 maturity review. It is intended that the current framework outlined in this plan will be optimised to provide greater clarity and efficiencies.

The Asset Management Steering Committee oversees Strathfield Council’s asset management framework. There are a number of objectives of the Committee, such as:

• Ensuring that all asset management activities are consistent with the objectives of the Community Strategic Plan and incorporate lifecycle asset management principles
• Ensuring compliance with the requirements of the Integrated Planning and Reporting Legislation and Guidelines and other infrastructure asset reporting
• Overseeing the development of Strathfield Council’s Asset Management key strategy themes and projects

The Asset System Working Group is responsible for the delivery of system improvements, training, mapping, and integration to other systems, system maintenance and deliver process improvements.

To support this framework, Strathfield Council will prepare and adopt several Asset Management documents, including:

• Asset Management Policy
• Asset Management Strategy
• Risk Management Plans for the critical assets
• Detailed Asset Management Plans for discrete asset classes

The purpose of the Asset Management Policy is to ensure that Strathfield Council has information, knowledge and understanding about the long-term and the cumulative consequences of being the custodian of public infrastructure.

This is achieved by ensuring that the systems and processes are in place to enable people to determine the most effective and efficient options for delivering infrastructure related services while controlling exposure to risk and loss.

The Asset Management Policy also provides the framework that together with the Community Strategic Plan enables the asset management strategy and specific asset management plans to be produced.

This asset management strategy provides a summary of how the resources available in Strathfield Council’s Resourcing Strategy will deliver the key objectives of the Community Strategic Plan Strathfield 2035 and the Delivery Program.

The Asset Management Strategy is a dynamic document that helps to guide the asset management activities and decision making of the organisation into the future. The initiatives are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure their relevance in a changing environment, and to also incorporate community feedback.