During 2017 and 2018, David led the preparation of eight Service and Asset Plans for Auckland Council’s Community Services group. A new approach to asset management planning was developed which enabled a service orientated focus to be used. The traditional IIMM asset orientated approach used in the past did not adequately describe the shift in emphasis required for the services nor did it tell the investment story. The plan development included workshops to explore the problems and benefits through a better business case for each service, analysis of the service roles, renewal planning, and great deal of collaboration.
In 2018, the Corporate Property secured approval for a business case to dispose of surplus capacity and invest in opportunities to develop a more modern, flexible workplace for it’s staff. David worked closely with the group to develop an asset management plan that reflected the business case and the workplace strategy, specifically tailoring the plan structure to summarise the intent and implications of the business case and provide content that would be useful to the business over the next three years.
The innovations developed for the Corporate Property and Community Services plans during 2018 are being presented at the IPWEA National Asset Management Conference in November 2018 (http://nams2018.co.nz/programme/).
Water contamination of waterways in a number of areas in Auckland by onsite wastewater systems is a problem that is proving difficult to address. In 2018, David undertook a review of the voluntary targeted rate that Council piloted as an incentive to homeowners to upgrade onsite systems. The independent review considered not only the merits of the voluntary targeted rate scheme, but also reviewed other incentive options used by Council, and other authorities in New Zealand and globally.
