Asset Management
At Mount Barker District Council, our 2044 vision is to be the most liveable region in South Australia.
The five key pillars in achieving this vision are Economy, Environment, Leadership, People and Place.
It is forecast that for the next 20 years (2024 – 2044), Council will welcome on average 927 new residents per year. Growing from a population of 44,772 to 63,321. To keep pace with the population growth, 8 new homes will need to be built per week. As an asset intensive organisation, this growth has it’s challenges, namely greater utilisation and demand of existing assets and a greater increase in development lead gifted assets.
This introduction acts as a guide for starting the process of developing a comprehensive Asset Management Plan (AMP) specifically designed to meet the distinct needs, goals and vision of Mount Barker District Council. These AMPs will not merely serve as a strategic document; they will function as a dynamic framework to support decision-making, resource distribution, and the effective management of our infrastructure assets throughout their entire lifecycle.
The development of a Strategic Asset Management Plan for Mount Barker District Council represents a key opportunity to ensure provision of Council’s assets deliver the services required to meet the needs of the community in both the short and longer term. This plan is one part of Council’s broader strategic framework and should be read in conjunction with Council’s Asset Management Policies, Annual Business Plan and Long Term Financial Plan.
Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP)
The Strategic Asset Management Plan 2025 - 2035 has been developed after taking the long term direction of the Mount Barker Community Plan 2044 into consideration. This overarching plan and individual Asset Management Plans inform the Long Term Financial Plan 2025 - 2035. Maintaining an adequate level of expenditure on existing assets on an annual basis ensures the burden of costs is met equally by current and future ratepayers.
The SAMP should be read in conjunction with Council’s key strategic management, planning and policy documents, including the Community Plan, Asset Management Policy, Long Term Financial Plan and Annual Business Plan and Budget.
Council endorsed its Strategic Asset Management Plan 2025 - 2035 at the Council meeting on 7 July 2025.
Strategic Asset Management Plan 2025
Policy
The following policy has been endorsed by Council and forms the framework for asset management planning.
Asset Management Plans
Mount Barker District Council provides a wide range of services to the community in urban and rural areas. A broad suite of civil and community assets is required in to deliver these services. These assets are categorised into four classes:
It's essential council manages these assets responsibly to maximise the value and services they provide. For this reason, we prepare a ten-year strategic asset management plan following international best-practice through assessing the condition of our assets and determining the investment needed to operate, maintain, renew/replace, upgrade or divest as necessary to meet desired service standards and demand. This comprehensive analysis also meets our obligations under the Local Government Act 1999 Section 122 which requires Council to prepare an infrastructure and asset management plan.