Infrastructure Strategy – Benefits to Asset Management Planning for a Growing District

In 2015 local authorities across New Zealand adopted their first 30 year Infrastructure Strategies for their water, sewerage, stormwater and flood protection, and transportation activities. These strategies are intended to make local communities aware of important infrastructure decisions coming up in the short and medium term, taking into account renewals, growth and level of service requirements, public health and environmental outcomes, and infrastructure resilience.

Waikato District is the second largest district in New Zealand and is located between two of the country’s fastest growing cities, Auckland and Hamilton. Some parts of Waikato District are under pressure to develop new infrastructure to keep up with growing communities, while other parts must maintain ageing systems with little growth.

Key strategic issues for Waikato District are population growth, asset knowledge, resilience, environmental requirements, road safety and maintenance costs. Preparing long term development plans, condition and performance assessments, addressing resilience and getting assumptions right are some of its asset management challenges.

This paper describes Waikato District Council’s journey in creating the 2015 Infrastructure Strategy, including successes and lessons learned. It also recommends actions for improving the next Infrastructure Strategy in 2018.