Plan for the Future of the District
Welcome to the Plan for the Future of the District for the Shire of Derby/West Kimberley.
Once again a document of this nature has been presented as a ten year plan, to better depict the future financial considerations of Council. It also clearly displays the major works and services currently under consideration to be carried out over that period.
Currently, section 5.56 of the Local Government Act requires a Council to prepare a Plan for the Future of the District. The plan is to be reviewed and re-submitted to the Council bi-annually.
Due to the extensive range of items that have been identified, Council has chosen to prepare a 10 year plan.
It should be noted that there has been changes to the Local Government Act (1995) which have replaced the requirement for a Principal Activities Plan with a Plan for the Future of the District. It is considered financial management best practice to continue preparing a document in the Principal Activities Plan format, as it provides strategic financial direction for Council.
As in previous years, this year's Plan is presented in a simple, single sheet version detailing the overall activities it is planned to undertake over the ten year period. This has been done so the reader can view all the proposals at once; however, this single sheet needs to be read in conjunction with the other supporting documentation.
This year an additional sheet has been added to the Plan which details the discretionary funds available to Council and the calculations that have been used to calculate this figure. For the information of the reader, 'discretionary funds' are described as the amount available to be spent on non-operational items; however, the terminology may be a little misleading, as asset maintenance and replacement (e.g. plant replacement, office equipment replacement, etc) also has to be allocated from such discretionary funds.
Priority Setting System
As in previous years a priority setting system has been used to determine Council's expenditure priorities, as not all projects can be afforded in any one year (and, in some cases, not at all over the life of the ten year Plan).
Prior Year's Actions
The actions of prior years are factored into the Plan so that the financial costs are then reflected in the discretionary money position for the financial year and in subsequent financial years. This involves reflecting the existing loan repayments commitment and the operational costs of existing assets and services.
The major priority area over the past four years has been to maintain and/or replace existing assets and to adhere to a structured Plan to carry out the necessary replacements and upgradings. Historically poor asset management has resulted in Council now facing significant challenges. A whole of life asset management system has been adopted; however, Council continues to be faced with the difficult situation of catch up, which severely limits what other works can be carried out.
In early 2001 Council adopted this new approach to asset management and it has taken 3 years to attend to various items. It is estimated that it will take at least a further 3-4 years to replace a number of very large infrastructure assets.
Conclusion
The task before Council in maintaining its assets is a significant challenge, yet the benefits of our approach will continue to produce better outcomes for the community. In addition, many changes and demands are being placed upon Council from external sources. This Plan allows Council to continue to consider and reasonably accommodate such demands and changes and also consolidate its debt position and take control of its future fund allocations.
It is Council's intention to continue ensuring that its services are structured to meet our customer's outcomes and to maximise benefits to the whole community.
I commend this Plan for the Future of the District to you and welcome your constructive comments and feedback.
John Pearson
Chief Executive Officer
May 2008
Documents
| File Type | File Size | File Name | File Description |  | 7.60MB | Plan for the Future of the District | The 10 year Plan for the Future of the District for the Shire of Derby/West Kimberley. |
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