North is Up Autumn 2012 - City of Playford - SA.Gov.au

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WHAT DO I GET FOR MY RATES? The City of Playford provides over 200 services to the Playford community. Given this huge number, there are many services provided that do not come to mind for residents. Here, in our regular series, we focus on the Asset Management Plan (AMP) for Council-owned buildings. Key service areas will be profiled in future editions to highlight how rates income is allocated across the services provided by Council. Service in focus: Asset Management Plans – keeping things shipshape costs big dollars Keeping all of the City of Playford’s assets looking shipshape and in good working order requires a huge amount of maintenance each year. These assets include everything from the city’s public buildings and sporting club houses to park furniture and irrigation equipment – about 50,000 items altogether, with expected life spans ranging from five to 120 years and an annual maintenance and renewal cost to Council of around $25 million. Council spends significant money on the development, upgrade and refurbishment of community facilities such as the Angle Vale Sports Facility and John McVeity Centre, but significant funds and time are spent on the maintenance of a total of 193 Council-owned buildings through its Asset Management Plan (AMP) for buildings. The plan outlines what money is required to operate, maintain and ultimately replace each asset and in what year that money will be required. Each type of building asset is broken down into categories, for example, categorised according to structure, fit-out, electrical, plumbing, air conditioning, roof and so on, with each category having a different expected life span. Maintenance strategies focus on preventative maintenance to achieve the longest possible life of the asset and keep it in the best possible condition. In the past two years capital works expenditure just for Council’s community facilities totalled more than $2.6 million, of The newly renovated Playford Patriots club rooms, Ramsay Park. which around $560,000 came from Commonwealth funding. “Through our customer surveys we have recognised gaps between what we’ve been able to provide and what our ratepayers expect,” says Group Manager Asset Strategy Peter Oye. “Through the AMP process we are able to bridge much of that gap. “There is still more work to be done in clearly defining an agreed and sustainable service level provision for our community assets, but by combining Council with Federal funding opportunities we have been able to bring forward several years worth of AMP refurbishment work during the last few years.” New facilities will boost community sport and social activities The long awaited $7 million redevelopment of the John McVeity Centre will start later this year, enabling it to expand its role in providing state-of-the-art recreation, fitness and community programs that will provide a boost to the area’s health and wellbeing. Located on the corner of Peachey and Davoren Roads in Smithfield Plains, directly opposite the new B-7 John Hartley School, the current centre has a single sports court and a number of outdated meeting rooms. The redeveloped centre will include a 200sqm gymnasium and construction of new community meeting spaces, plus either a new 500sqm activity hall or a full size sports court depending on whether an extra $1.6 million funding is granted from the federal Regional Development Australia Fund. So far Council is contributing $5.65 million to the cost with a further $1.25 million coming from the Playford Alive Initiatives Fund. A new café with outdoor area, crèche, extra storage space and landscaping will provide residents with a modern facility capable of meeting the sport, recreation and social needs of a rapidly growing community. Meanwhile, an interim management agreement for the newly constructed Angle Vale Community Sports Facility on Fradd Road will see the Angle Vale Angle Vale Community Sports Facility. Sports and Community Association take over day to day responsibility for all of its operations for the next 30 months. At the start there will be a six month handover period during which Council will manage hire and use of the facilities while the association sorts out policies for its longer term management. The two irrigated playing fields, cricket pitch, multi-function club rooms and car park will provide an enormous boost to sporting and community facilities available in the Angle Vale community. While principally a facility for the local football, soccer and cricket clubs, it is intended as a multi-use facility and available for hire and use by other local community groups. 6 C i t y o f P l a y f o r d C u s t o m e r S e r v i c e i s t h e r e f o r y o u P h : 8 2 5 6 0 3 3 3
When it comes to safety Council is listening very resident has a “E right to feel safe in their community,” says City of Playford Mayor Glenn Docherty. “It’s one of the basic fundamentals of local government and it’s a principle that goes to the heart of many of Council’s actions.” It can range from having safer footpaths or pedestrian crossings in the right places to making sure new communities are designed with resident safety in mind, with adequate street lighting and safe public transport. But that also throws an obligation back onto the community – to make sure their Council knows community concerns about public safety and works in partnership with Council to find the best solutions. “The key to it is having a Council that listens to its community,” says Mayor Docherty, “and that’s something we try very hard to facilitate.” One practical example is the Community Safety Audits that Council has held in parts of the city which provide residents with an opportunity to identify all the factors that have either a negative or positive impact on their feelings of safety. Participants are given basic training in the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), which is based on the idea that people’s behaviour within the physical environment, particularly in terms of the possibility of offending, is influenced by the design of that environment. “It is recognised that poor urban design and management contribute to fear of crime in a community,” Mayor Docherty says. “However, the people best placed to determine the factors that contribute to fear of crime are often the residents who live, work or recreate in that community.” “So when we invite members of the community to take part in a Safety Audit, we really mean it – we want to hear how they feel about their area. In this way they can help us to identify factors that increase the actual and perceived vulnerability of a site and any potential problems, they can help guide future planning and building development, and they can help development a sense of community ownership and responsibility.” A more traditional way for a community to make its feelings known is by presenting a petition to Council. That’s how Munno Para residents went about alerting the Council to their concerns regarding traffic issues, including the strategic positioning of roundabouts, chicanes and other traffic calming measures on several of Munno Para’s main streets. Council responded initially by undertaking a traffic study in Munno Para to look at current road conditions and identify local road network issues from site observations, traffic data and community questionnaire surveys. The resulting report went on to recommend a number of solutions that would make life safer for residents and more effectively manage driver behaviour on the local road network. These included the installation of parking lanes, pedestrian refuges to assist pedestrians crossing the road, speed cushions, modifying the layout of some junctions and additional street lighting where needed by the traffic calming devices. Residents were advised of the proposed measures and that their designs were available on Council’s website. Work on installing these measures has already begun with lines on roads, to be followed by raised concrete islands and upgraded street lighting at some locations together with additional traffic calming measures. The project is due to be completed around the middle of the year at a total capital cost of $600,000. Many other safety-related programs are undertaken as a matter of normal Council business, including the rapid removal of graffiti, which has been increased due to the centralisation of the graffiti removal service and employment of a dedicated graffiti removal worker. “We continue to foster relationships with sporting clubs and community groups regarding graffiti management strategies,” adds Mayor Docherty. “A partial indicator of success in the future will be the appearance of legal aerosol art on privately owned facilities.” Council is also working with Boystown and the Department of Correctional Services on graffiti removal programs, as well as providing kits to residents to remove any graffiti on their property. In another initiative Council is involved in North on Target (NOT), a 12 week program aimed at giving students a better understanding of community values and providing information about how to keep healthy by avoiding substances such as alcohol and drugs. Facilitated in partnership with SAPOL’s Drug Action Team, the Department of Education and Children Development (formally A range of safety measures that Council has implemented across the City. Department of Education and Children’s Services) and Northern Area Community and Youth Services (NACYS), the program also has a focus on leadership development encouraging participants to act as peers to classmates. Funding from the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Program for Operation Bounce Back (OBB) allowed for vehicle crime awareness and educational presentations by SAPOL at local shopping and community centres. This program also saw car immobilisers provided and installed free of charge for residents. Improved community safety has led to Council allocating $350,000 this year for the installation of new footpaths – particularly in areas where there are missing sections of footpath. Residents are encouraged to report a broken or damaged footpath by contacting Customer Service (08) 8256 0333, by email to Playford@playford. sa.gov.au or by logging a request online via e-pathway. Other safety projects include installation of kerb ramps to make it easier for disabled and pram access, upgrading school crossings, traffic management and road safety reviews, and remedying tripping hazards on footpaths. N o r t h i s U p w w w. p l a y f o r d . s a . g o v. a u 7
Page 1 and 2: Playford’s Community Newsletter A
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS MESSAGE FROM YOUR MAYOR PA
Page 5: A growing demand for healthy food c
Page 9 and 10: Australia Day award winners The Cit
Page 11 and 12: People with a passion Colleen pushe

North is Up Autumn 2012 - City of Playford - SA.Gov.au

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