With an infrastructure asset portfolio valued at more than $2.7 billion and a planned annual increase of $220 million due to the development of new buildings, the Melton City Council understood that its current approach of using a budget to oversee asset planning and funding levels was likely to cause a growing asset backlog.

Combined with an expected increase in population, this would result in the deterioration of assets, which would likely mean that satisfaction with the Council would diminish.

The recently introduced Local Government Act 2020 also mandates that all local governments in Victoria develop, adopt, and enforce an asset plan in line with the Act’s engagement practices and that the scope of this plan is at least 10 years. Under this new legislation, local governments must first develop their asset plans and use these outcomes to inform their long-term financial plan, which increased the Council’s urgency to move to a new approach.

Melton originally chose Assetic to deliver lifecycle modelling and develop a 10-year asset management plan that is aligned to the Council’s long-term financial plan.

“The Council set out on a journey to update its asset management plans—from a lengthy document that sat on the shelf to an enhanced, streamlined document that clearly outlined the Council’s long-term strategic asset management. We partnered with Assetic to manage internal stakeholder workshops, to gain a better understanding of the Council’s needs and to provide advice to help the Council move through a challenging process,” Melton City manager, engineering services Sam Romaszko says.

The Council sought first to understand the level of service expected by the community. It then worked with Assetic to develop the Council’s asset management plan, which offers alternatives and future service level trade-offs using a wide range of considerations such as conditions, material, age, function, and usage of the asset.

Says Romaszko: “The Council treated this as a journey of asset maturity through enhancing existing systems, using new technology, and focusing on stringent modelling of various scenarios to ensure the Council’s level of services and subsequent renewal demand met the needs of both the community and the organisation.”

Following the implementation of its asset management plans, the Council identified potential financial risk which resulted in proactive decision-making and planning. This included a saving of approximately $2.5 million per year in the Council’s roads portfolio by optimising interventions in line with strategic asset management best practices.

“Sealed roads and buildings represent the largest asset classes in Melton's portfolio. By comparing the traditional scenario of only treating assets in poor condition versus a robust model with community-driven levels of service, the annual benefit derived from these asset classes is significant,” Melton City general manager planning and development Luke Shannon says.

“It is estimated that the average asset portfolio degrades at an average of three to four per cent per annum. By optimising interventions, this consumption rate can be reduced by 0.16%. Melton could realise savings of up to $4 million per annum by applying the analytical models developed through this project and realise higher community satisfaction and service levels as a result,” concludes Assetic senior manager strategic asset management Raston Nga.