Although most organisations have good asset registers for hard infrastructure, when it comes to living assets many parks professionals feel like they’re out on a limb.

IPWEA’s upcoming Annual Parks Seminar will give practitioners the tools to make their asset management and levels of service blossom, by providing them with a clear roadmap for improvement, delivered in practical steps.

Covering all-new topics, the seminar will teach participants how to assess parks performance, in addition to the current condition based approach. Attendees will also learn about the value and benefits to be obtained from a comprehensive parks service review using a simple step-by-step process, whether the services are delivered in-house, or outsourced.

Greater maturity needed

Presenters Brian Milne and Jayson Kelly from parks management consultants Xyst explain that while parks asset management maturity has increased significantly during the last decade, there is still a very wide variation between organisations’ level of implementation and maturity.

“Although most organisations have good asset systems, registers and condition information for hard assets, living asset information is generally weak,” Milne says.

“It is the next level of asset management work that many are struggling with, and even the understanding of why we collected all this asset information and what to do with it can be a challenge.” 

Kelly says organisations still struggle to fully record and link the cost of operation, maintenance and replacement of assets with the existing asset management system.

“Ten years or so ago when asset management systems and mobile data devices started appearing, we thought they looked fantastic and by now we thought we’d all be using these tools easily and effectively,” he explains.  

 “Unfortunately, this isn’t quite the case – a significant challenge still remains for most organisations to fully record and link the cost of operation, maintenance and replacement of assets with the asset management system.”

 Service delivery reviews

Kelly says the development and implementation of levels of service continues to be an area of strong interest and work in progress for most organisations.

“Levels of service are an essential component to undertake both performance assessments and parks service reviews,” he says.

Milne says if done holistically, service level reviews are also important catalysts in changing organisational culture in a non-threatening way. 

Register now

Kelly says there’s never been a more critical time for good parks management.

 “With continuing expectations to improve the way we do things and to do more with less, it is critical that parks managers and coordinators continue to develop their skills and awareness of the latest techniques and ideas to deliver on these expectations,” he says.

“The seminar will continue to develop participants’ understanding of asset management and provide skills to better implement what they’re currently doing, providing them with a roadmap and tools for their next level of improvement.

“The seminar condenses the theory into very practical steps, avoiding the pitfalls of self-learning, and cuts straight to the chase – something valuable when time and resources are scarce.”

Register now for IPWEA’s Annual Parks Seminar.

Locations and dates:

Brisbane, 15 Nov

Sydney, 16 Nov

Adelaide, 17 Nov

Melbourne, 18 Nov

Perth, 22 Nov