Works and Facilities Agenda (14/11/06, 8766kb) - Eurobodalla Shire ...

DELEGATES REPORT TO WORKS AND FACILITIES COMMITTEE MEETING
HELD ON TUESDAY 14 NOVEMBER 2006 Page 14
W06/115 NSW ROADS CONGRESS – DELEGATES REPORT 98.2473
SYNOPSIS
The following brief summary of information is provided from the NSW Roads Congress for
the information of Council.
BACKGROUND
The inaugural NSW Roads Congress was held in 2005, allowing presentation of information,
including the NSW Roads & Transport Directorate’s Road Benchmarking Reports, sharing of
ideas and setting of directions by Councillors and staff.
Much of this information then fed directly into the Local Government Sustainability Report
authored by Professor Percy Allen.
Councillor Rob Pollock, Chair of the Works and Facilities Committee, and Warren Sharpe,
Group Manager Roads and Recreation Services attended the 2006 NSW Roads Congress on
16 & 17 October 2006.
ISSUES
Day One
Welcome & Opening – John Truman, President NSW Institute of Public Works &
Engineering (IPWEA)
All 112 delegates welcomed. Emphasised that it was very important to get feedback from the
delegates, in particular the elected representative to assist in setting directions for the next
12 months.
John Truman is also represented on the NSW Roads & Transport Directorate.
Infrastructure Management Session
Councillor Barry Johnston, representing Local Government Shires Association
Infrastructure Taskforce
Councillor Johnston provided a brief overview of activities and a summary of some of the
work done so far, in particular the Professor Allen report into the sustainability of local
government.
This report was jointly funded by LGSA & the LGA. It has set a benchmark for the
assessment of local government.
Some findings:
• 25% of Councils financially unsustainable, 50% are marginal
• 165,000km of local roads & 18,000km of regional roads under local government control
in NSW
• $6.3B backlog of works increasing at $500M per year (really figure may be even
higher)