Education the key to understanding local assets
Published on 03 November 2025
A community group will be established to help Loddon Shire residents better understand how Council assets are maintained.
The group’s establishment will follow now that the Asset Plan 2025 has been adopted by Council at its October meeting.
The draft plan went out for comment following the August Council meeting, and besides the ability to make submissions, residents also had the chance to speak with Council staff at listening post sessions around the shire, asking any questions they might have had about assets.
That engagement reinforced the need for continuing education around what Council does and a community asset group will be established to review asset and service plans at a strategic level.
This will explain Council’s processes around asset management and related areas such as funding decisions for renewal programs, service standards and sustainable asset management for responsible financial management.
The Asset Plan contains information about maintenance, renewal, acquisition, expansion, upgrade, disposal and decommissioning in relation to each class of infrastructure asset under the control of Council, such as buildings, roads, bridges and major culverts, footpaths, stormwater drainage, recreational, leisure and community facilities, and parks, open spaces and streetscapes.
Loddon Shire Mayor Dan Straub said Council officers were in the process of establishing the group which would help address the knowledge gap.
“It’s a great initiative,” he said.
“As Councillors we know just how invested our communities are in the roads, buildings and all the other assets Council manages.
“The more information we can give them, the better for everyone.”
The Asset Plan also shows that the asset renewal gap, the bane of many rural and regional councils, has decreased by about $500,000 a year since 2022, from $2.1 million a year to $1.6 million for all infrastructure classes.
This gap is the difference between what it costs to maintain an asset at current service levels and the funding available to do so.
Rural councils have been particularly susceptible to large gaps due to a smaller ratepayer base and a substantial amount of assets to upkeep – in Loddon Shire’s case the known value of the assets is about $625 million.
The Asset Plan forecasts $176 million will be available over the next 10 years to renew, upgrade and maintain Council’s assets, or about 92 per cent of the amount needed to sustain current service levels.
Council will look to reduce the gap further through the likes of grant funding.
The Asset Plan can be viewed on Council’s website.