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Table of Contents
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1. Introduction and Overview
Introduction - This Asset Management Plan is different to BRC's other 7 Asset Management Plans, in that it deals with a number of "asset sub-classes" specifically mentioned in the Asset Management Advancement Program that BRC considers to be facilities rather than infrastructure assets. Infrastructure assets typically located within the facilities covered by this plan are dealt with in the other plans.
1.1 Scope
Scope of the AMP for Parks - The following Infrastructure classes and sub-classes / facilities are covered by the Asset Management Plan for Parks:
- Parks
- Beaches
- Natural Reserves
- Pools
- Showgrounds
- Sports Facilities (tennis courts, netball courts, etc.)
- Playground Equipment
A number of asset types often located within a parks are excluded, including;
1.2 Park Hierarchy
BRC is in the process of placing parks into the following categories.
District Parks are further sub-categorised into;
1.2.1 Local Parks
Local Parks - Local parks should be at least 0.4 ha in area and have a minimum street frontage of 50%.
They typically service residents within 400m or a 5 minute walk to the park. Access is via collector road, linear park system and accessible by pathways.
Local parks typically contain a playground equipment module, seating under soft shade, a rubbish bin, a tap and identification signage.
Local Park Examples
1.2.2 Neighbourhood Parks
Neighbourhood Parks - A Neighbourhood Park should be between 0.5 ha & 2.0 ha in size, and have a minimum street frontage of 50%.
They typically service residents that live within 800m-1200m or a 10 minute walk to the park. Access is via collector road, linear park system and accessible by pathways.
Neighbourhood parks typically contain the embellishments typical of a local park, but may also contain; BBQ facilities, a shelter module, bubbler & adequate street parking and lighting.
Neighbourhood Park Examples
1.2.3 Nature Parks
Nature Parks - Nature parks should be at least 3 ha in area and have a minimum street frontage of 50%.
They typically service residents within 1.5 km or a 30 minute drive of the park. Access is via collector or higher level roads, and by pathways.
Nature parks typically contain; seating under soft shade, rubbish bins, identification signage, BBQ facilities, shelter modules and unisex permeable toilets.
Nature Park Examples
1.2.4 Sports Parks
Sports Parks - a Sports Park is a park that provides a range of facilities for practising and playing structured or organisation-based sports for teams or individuals.
These parks may include:
(a) facilities specifically for undertaking competitive, organised activities; and
(b) ancillary facilities for clubs or organisations to support sporting activities such as canteens, clubhouses and storage facilities; and
(c) multi-use facilities or space that may be leased or licensed to sport and recreation clubs or organisations that need to be located on or adjacent to the park.
Sports Park Examples
1.2.5 Civic Parks
Civic Parks - Civic parks should be located within 1.5 km of the CBD. Access is via collector or higher level roads and the parks should be accessible by pathways.
Civic parks typically contain; seating, identification signage, bubblers, unisex toilets, lighting and possibly artwork or other marketable infrastructure.
Civic Park Examples
1.2.6 Linear Parks
Linear Parks - Linear parks are elongated parks containing pathways.
Access is via any order of road and by connecting pathways.
Linear parks typically contain; seating, walking trails/access infrastructure and identification signage.
Linear Park Examples
1.3 Quantitative Data
Parks Infrastructure Summary - As of 9 June 2010, there were 312 parks, beaches & natural reserves identified in BRC's maintenance management system.
1.4 Links to Other Documents
Parks Related Documents - The following documents have been referred to in developing this plan.
General Documents
- Bundaberg Regional Council Long Term Asset Management Plan (LTAMP)
- Bundaberg Regional Council Asset Management Policy
NOTE: The BRC Asset Management Policy is a Draft version and will be set up to be adopted by Management /Council and incorporated into the LTAMP
Parks & Recreation Specific Documents
- None
1.5 Legislative and Regulatory Requirements
Legislative and Regulatory Requirements - The principal relevant statutes regulating the asset management practices of Councils are:
- Queensland Local Government Act 2009
- Queensland Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995
- Queensland Industrial Relations Act 1999
- Queensland Environmental Protection Act 1994
The Department of Infrastructure and Planning requirements for asset management plans include:
- description of the maintenance program
- timing of program
- maintenance expense per asset class and sub-class
2. Service Levels (Community Commitments)
2.1 Strategic/Community Service Levels
Strategic Community Service Levels For Parks - The table below summarises a number of proposed community services for parks.
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2.2 Technical/Maintenance Service Levels
Maintenance Service Levels for Parks
Civic Parks
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Neighbourhood Parks
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Local Parks
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Nature Parks
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Sports Parks
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Linear Parks
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3. Future Demand
3.1 Future requirements associated with corporate plans or operational plans
Future Requirements for Parks - No future requirements associated with the corporate plan or the operational plan have been identified.
3.2 Known or possible areas for expansion
Expansion - There are several factors that may affect the demand for and on Council assets.
3.2.1 New Subdivisions
New Subdivisions - Council is gifted infrastructure on a regular basis, with a significant number of new subdivisions coming off maintenance each year.
3.2.2 Population Growth
Population Growth - According to the OESR Queensland Regional Database & Google Public Data Explorer Bundaberg Regional Council's estimated population has increased from 78,943 in 2001 to 95,132 in 2009.
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3.2.3 Changes in Land Use
Changes in Land Use - Bundaberg Regional Council has yet to finalise a consolidated Planning Scheme for the amalgamated Council. If any changes in land use affecting future demand are included in the new scheme they will be identified here.
3.2.4 Changes to Government Policy & Regulations
Government Policy & Regulations - No changes to government policy or regulations have been identified in this plan.
3.3 Asset classes and potential acquisition dates
New Asset Classes - It is not anticipated that any new asset classes will be acquired within the time frame of this plan.
3.4 Cost estimates
Cost to Parks of Future Demand - The costs of changes in the future demand on the assets covered by this plan have yet to be calculated.
3.5 Impact of future demand on service levels, asset lifecycle and financial considerations
Impact of Future Demand - The impact of future demand on service levels, asset lifecycle and financial considerations are likely to be minimal. Anecdotal and other evidence suggests that participation group recreational activities has been on the decline for several decades.
3.6 Technological Change Forecast
Technological Change Forecast - The past few centuries have seen enormous technological advances, and in computing, nanotechnology & biological science the current rate of advancement is exponential. (e.g. Moore's Law.) If this trend continues the impact on Local Government is potentially enormous, and obsolescence could become the main factor in determining the useful lives of many asset classes.
There are a number of key areas in which this rapid technological advancement could affect the way assets are constructed and maintained.
3.6.1 Energy
Energy - The availability or lack of availability of relatively cheap energy will have a huge impact on the cost of and need for infrastructure assets into the future.
Oil reserves are a finite resource, and transport systems will almost certainly become more and more dependent on synthetic fuels, bio-fuels and/or electrical power in the medium to long term.
If the cost of transport increases the cost of constructing infrastructure assets is likely to increase commensurately.
On the other hand, there are a couple of possible reasons that energy might actually become cheaper in the medium term which would drive construction costs down.
The amount of solar power being generated is increasing exponentially, and there are number of reasons to suspect the efficiency of solar power generation will improve markedly in the short to medium term.
Commercial fusion power is not expected to be available until at least 2040, but its impact if and when it does become a reality could be enormous, given that there is enough heavy hydrogen in the oceans to satisfy mankind's energy needs for millions of years.
3.6.2 New Materials & Construction Techniques
New Materials & Construction Techniques - It is possible that Automated Construction Techniques like D-Shape & Contour Crafting will have a significant impact on the construction of civil assets in the not-to-distant future. Given the long lives of some civil assets it is feasible that by the time they are due to be replaced automated construction techniques will enable them to be replaced for considerably less than their current replacement cost.
High tech materials like carbon nanotubes could result in decreased construction costs.
3.6.3 Increased Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing
Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing - Increased collaboration & knowledge sharing via the internet has the potential to reduce overhead costs significantly by reducing the amount of duplication of effort between Councils.
3.6.4 Artificial Intelligence & Expert Systems
Artificial Intelligence & Expert Systems - Some observers believe that human level general artificial intelligence could be a reality as soon as 2030.
4. Lifecycle Management and Financial Considerations
4.1 Useful Life
Park Asset Useful Lives - The facilities covered by this plan are considered to have an infinite life.
4.2 Valuation
Parks Valuation - BRC does not currently value the trees or softscaping, and infrastructure assets located within parks are dealt with by other asset management plans.
4.3 Maintenance
4.3.1 Maintenance Activities
Parks Maintenance Activities - Council performs a number of maintenance activities in relation to assets covered by this plan, including:
4.3.2 Maintenance Expenditure
Parks Maintenance Expenditure - a break up of maintenance expenditure on parks infrastructure in the 2009-2010 financial year is detailed in the table below. The information has been extracted from BARS via a Financial Performance Summary Report.
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4.4 Asset Renewal & Replacement
Parks Renewal & Replacement - BRC does not have renewal program for Parks, Beaches or Natural Reserves.
Infrastructure assets located within these facilities are dealt with under other plans.
4.5 Asset Creation & Acquisition
Park Creation & Acquisition - BRC receives parks from developers on a regular basis.
4.6 Asset Disposal
Disposal of Park Assets - Parks are very rarely disposed of. No parks are listed for disposal in the period covered by this plan.
4.7 Risk Management
Risk Management - Council recognises 4 levels of risk, low, medium, high and extreme. These risk associated with a given hazard is calculated in accordance with Council's Risk Management Policy using the following risk matrix.
All identified risks are recorded in Council's Risk Management System. The system contains a hazard register and a rectification action plan.
Council typically adopts one or more of the following risk handling options when risks are identified.
- accepting risk;
- reducing likelihood of event;
- reducing the consequences of event;
- transferring the risk;
- sharing the risk;
Risks
Hosting the plan online and backing it up locally should ensure that the plan content is safe even in the case of a server failure.
Internet outages can restrict access to the live version of the plan from time to time, but the data itself should be very safe.
Backups of the plan are made regularly and stored in the directory: S:\Support Services\Assets\Asset Management Plans.
5. Asset Management Practices
5.1 Asset Management Systems
Asset Management Systems - Bundaberg Regional Council uses a the following software systems & databases to manage various asset management related tasks.
- AMMS
- Asbestos Register
- ArcGIS
- Assetic
- Authority
- BLIS
- IMS
- Lease Register
- MediaWiki
- Plans Register
- SWIMS
- WHIP
Software System Interaction Diagram
6. Improvement and Monitoring
6.1 Known data quality issues
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6.2 Data quality issue mitigation
Park Data Improvement Plan - It is planned to progressively improve the quality of park data by publishing existing data about all parks on the BRC Wiki, and encouraging the users of the wiki to advise the Assets Section of any errors or inconsistencies.
6.3 Estimate of Reliability
Estimate of Reliability - The majority of the figures used in BRC's Asset Management Plans are generated from Council's Assetic Asset Management System. The Assetic database was compiled from numerous databases and spreadsheets used by the former Councils of Bundaberg, Burnett, Isis & Kolan. The quality of the data available varied from Council to Council and asset class to asset class, and in some cases has been further degraded as a result of the aggregation process.
Council is in the early stages of developing and implementing long term management systems and as such expects the Long Term Asset Management Plan, incorporating this Asset Management Plan and associated expenditure programs, to change significantly over the next five years as these systems mature and better information becomes available.
It should be noted that Council has made significant advances in the reliability of the base data (quantity, location, condition and value) since amalgamation.
7. References
General References - The following references have been used in preparing this and other Asset Management Plans