Warringah Council has used a Long Term Financial Strategy (LTFS) to identify gaps between current funding capabilities and future required funding levels for the sustainable management of its assets.
Warringah Council is located on Sydney’s northern beaches and is home to some 140,000 residents. It has developed the LTFS to address the challenges Council will face in the coming decade to upgrade its infrastructure.
The LTFS aims to remove problems that can occur with financial plans that only have a three year timeline. By incorporating plans for new infrastructure with sustainable funding proposals to maintain existing infrastructure, Warringah aims to develop a financial strategy that will promote growth in the region until 2016 and beyond.
The LTFS provides the financial information needed to support the four following programs that form Council’s ‘Living Warringah’ strategic plan:
- Living Communities (community services, arts and culture)
- Living Enterprises (economic development)
- Living Environment (waterways, environmental diversity and sustainability)
- Living Spaces (outdoor spaces, transport, infrastructure and development).
In addition to the LTFS, an asset management plan has been developed for each of seven asset categories. Three different scenarios cover the financial implications on the management of assets as part of a ten year strategy. These scenarios are:
- Base Case – the use of 2006/07 budgetary information and indexing for forecast price changes to project the financial position of Council for the ten year period
- Sustainable Asset – outlines the aging infrastructure while acknowledging the base case scenario and providing a funding source
for additional infrastructure - Strategic Direction – details the financial impact that community needs will have over the period of the LTFS.
Public consultation was an integral element in the formulation of the scenarios. Engineering and asset management consultancies were used in the development of the strategy.
For more information, contact Gary Mottau on (02) 9942 2437 or email mottag@warringah.nsw.gov.au
