IPWEA Australasia Excellence Awards Winner: Excellence in Asset Management 2017

Recipient: City of Charles Sturt, Tonkin Consulting and nine adjoining councils

Project: River Torrens Linear Park - Strategic Integrated Asset Management Plan

The River Torrens runs 85 kilometres from its source high in the Adelaide Hills. Along its final 30 kilometres from the foothills to the sea, it is flanked on either side by a reserve originally designed for flood mitigation.

Known as River Torrens Linear Park, it contains about 92 kilometres of paths, more than 1600 lights, 65 bridges, numerous playgrounds, toilets, benches, picnic tables and other facilities. The reserve runs through nine council areas.

As with all waterside reserves in urban areas, the park has become popular with locals. From being a place for children to play and for dogs to walk, to offering a quiet spot for a contemplative stroll or a handy commuter route on a bicycle, Linear Park has become a vital part of Adelaide life.

It was decided in 2012 that a cooperative approach to the management and care of the park would be taken. This enormous project would bring the efforts of nine councils together to create a plan to ensure consistency of experience for park users, no matter which council area they were in.

“Each of the nine councils contributed to the success of this project,” says Michael de Heus, Program Manager Local Government with Tonkin Consulting. “We did a lot of work to investigate the future needs of users, meaning any upgrades being planned would suit the shape of the future population.”

The goal of the project has been for users of the park to have a consistent experience along the entire park. Signage, seating, lighting, path type and more would be the same along the 30-kilometre stretch. More importantly, upgrades would reflect the needs and wishes of the park’s users.

“Community feedback to our survey – which included advertising in parks that guided people, via a QR code, to the online survey – was very impressive with over 800 responses, de Heus says. “The level of response was a testament to the interest the community has in the Linear Park.”

“One of the most powerful things we did was provide improved signage so people could not only access the park easily but also access other facilities nearby. If there is a playground or a café outside the park, for instance, signs will guide people there.”

The new plan saves effort and budget, provides councils with opportunities to share key infrastructure and also offers a cost saving from a maintenance point of view.

This project, IPWEA judges said, is a “credit to the nine councils involved to collaborate and develop this integrated asset management plan [which] manages the merging of spatial data to address risks and plan future upgrades. The plan is a great example of multiple councils and their communities that have eliminated borders to agree to service levels.”