IPWEA Blogs

A Small Reminder of What Matters

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
By David Jenkins Easter has a way of slowing things down. In the middle of busy calendars and the constant hum of work, Easter offers something increasingly rare: time. Time to be present, reconnect, and step outside the routine to remember what really matters. Like many families, we decided to make the most of it. No big plans, just a bike ride and a walk along the GreenWay trail, recently opened by the Inner West Council. What we found was something far more meaningful than just a path. It turned out to be an experience. The trail weaves through the Inner West and feels both planned and natural. Safe underpasses let kids ride freely. Open spaces invite ...
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Why Playgrounds Matter More Than We Realise

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
By David Jenkins You don’t really “get” playgrounds until you become a parent. Honestly, I never thought twice about it, but when you have two active four-year-olds, suddenly, playgrounds become one of the most essential things in my weekend survival kit. And every parent knows the feeling: that moment when you arrive at a great park and think,   thank goodness… they’re entertained, they’re happy, and I might even get to drink a coffee while it’s still hot. Recently, I took the kids to the Boongaree Rotary Nature Play Park in Berry, NSW. A fantastic project jointly undertaken by Shoalhaven City Council and Rotary. If you haven’t been, it’s incredible. ...
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Build it and they will come

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
Economic growth does not happen without infrastructure. This was the message from Troy Anderson at IPWC 2025 as he presented the case study of the Parkes Special Activation Precinct (SAP), the first of a number of similar initiatives by the NSW State Government. Anderson, who is the director of the Parkes and Moree SAPs for the Regional Growth NSW Development Corporation, explained that the government is committed to four precincts across the state. In addition to Parkes, the others are in Wagga Wagga, the Snowy Mountains and Moree and the total government investment is $1 billion, funded by the sale of the NSW Government’s Snowy Hydro assets. “The precincts ...
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Major reforms for local government in NZ

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
By Steve Mooney The local government sector in New Zealand is going through some of the most significant changes since the reforms carried out in the 1980s. Under the direction of the national government, local governments are being asked to streamline their operations, improve financial accountability and also address the ongoing issue of financial sustainability. Today there are 78 councils across New Zealand comprised of 11 regional and 67 local councils. They are set to spin off water and wastewater services into new regional companies and focus on core services and resource management reforms which, as Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop advised ...
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What does New Zealand Local government do?

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
By Steve Mooney They might be the second tier in New Zealand’s system of government but local and regional councils do much of the heavy lifting on the essential services which keep the economy moving and households functioning.  Your council ensures that consistent standards are in place to keep people safe and secure.   They keep you safe from dodgy food, ensure that you don’t get constant gridlock in the cities, and that ships berth at wharves and not on reefs.   Water comes in, and it goes out. The roads are maintained, bus services organised, and the rubbish removed. All those things you don’t notice until they don’t happen.  The current structure ...
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The winners of the best of public works in New Zealand have been announced

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
New Zealand asset management and public works professionals joined with IPWEA Auckland in May for the annual New Zealand Excellence Awards Gala dinner. Organisations from around the country entered their projects in eight categories, with the winners announced at an event held in collaboration with principal sponsor Brightly Software. New Zealand Country Head, Steve Mooney, says the awards highlight best practice in the sector. The awards celebrated innovative projects in New Zealand and offered a networking opportunity for industry peers, and a chance to hear a special keynote address from Rob Waddell, a former NZ rowing world champion and Olympic gold medallist.  ...
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Housing Growth: The infrastructure funding and financing toolkit

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
By Steve Mooney Speaking to an audience of Mayors and Chief Executives from around New Zealand in early March, Minister of Housing Chris Bishop revealed a new toolkit approach to the funding and financing challenges to accelerating housing growth. The Government is proposing to replace development contributions with a development levy system. This will provide councils with more flexibility to charge developers for the overall cost of growth infrastructure across an urban area – and ensure that ‘growth pays for growth’. Bishop said that councils will still be required to use identified infrastructure projects to calculate levies, however, they will be ...
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The greening of the City of Marion

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
When Ian Seccafien began his career in local government the young arborist “understood intrinsically” that trees were assets but struggled to convince colleagues in other departments, who held more traditional views on asset management. “I remember having conversations and recommending that we treat trees as assets and set up our budget with asset life cycles, but I could never get any traction,” he says. “There was always this ‘no, you can’t put them on a balance sheet, and you can’t depreciate them, therefore we don’t need a plan for them’”. Fast forward to 2025 and Seccafien has moved on to the City of Marion, where he is now the Coordinator of Arboriculture. ...
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Arizona posts record heat, but growing in resilience

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
The summer of 2024 was officially the hottest on record in Arizona’s capital of Phoenix, with an average temperature of 37 degrees Celsius. Outpacing the previous record of 36 degrees set the previous year. The health risks posed by days of extreme heat are well documented, and in response to an extreme heat event in 2005 that resulted in the 35 deaths across a 9 day period, an association of governments in Arizona established the Heat Relief Network.  The Network is a regional partnership that provides hydration stations, and cooling respite centres across the state with the aim of reducing heat-related illnesses and deaths within the community. The cooling ...
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Capacity building is crucial for disaster response

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
By David Jenkins Extreme weather and natural disasters are occurring more often as the world feels the impacts of climate change, and this has created challenges for disaster agencies, first responders, and local governments. In Australia, which has experienced devastating bushfires and flooding in recent years, one of the responses from the Commonwealth has been to commission an Independent Review of Commonwealth Disaster Funding from Deloitte partner Andrew Colvin. His report, released in late October, makes some very valid points about how disaster funding can be more targeted and, therefore, more effective. The focus groups that contributed to the ...
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Benchmarking the state of assets

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
By Steve Mooney Infrastructure is a key priority in New Zealand and one of the factors driving the new push is an understanding of the infrastructure deficit. This has been estimated at NZ$100 billion, which is the amount required to modernise, upgrade and build the infrastructure which New Zealand actually needs today. If that isn’t daunting enough that NZ$100 billion could become NZ$200 billion by 2030 if nothing is done now, and if New Zealand falls further behind. The positive news is that the Government is making infrastructure a priority and has a new approach. The upcoming 30-year National Infrastructure plan is designed to deliver greater stability ...
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Sustainability Through Street Lights: Tracking Community Carbon Reduction

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
By Itron Around the globe, cities are responsible for approximately 75% of man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Many cities have since embarked on a journey to reduce their carbon footprint with a pledge to halve their emissions by   2030 , and many targeting 2050 to achieve Net Zero carbon emissions.  Besides the pledge, a growing number of cities and towns are now mandated with local, state or national carbon-reduction policies. The rapid urbanization of communities further drives the demand to build more infrastructure. There is an increasing pressure on city and town councils to delicately balance the demand and supply of  energy while keeping up ...
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Local Government needs a seat at the table on housing: ALGA

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
Australia’s local government sector had a critical role in helping to address the nation’s housing crisis, but was locked out of the planning process and its housing efforts were underfunded. These were two of the key messages in a report on Australia’s housing crisis commissioned by the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) and delivered by consulting firm Equity Economics. The report, titled Addressing the Housing Crisis: Unlocking Local Government’s Contribution notes that Australia has a target of increasing the number of houses by 40% each year over the next five years. “If achieved, the boost in housing supply will increase economic activity ...
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Protecting Lives and Assets: The Leadership Role of BYDA in Safeguarding Australia’s Workers and Utility Networks

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
Australia’s utility networks are vital, powering homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure that keeps the country running. But these essential networks are under constant threat, with over 1,100 strikes each month caused by construction and excavation activities. The implications of utility damage extend far beyond immediate repair costs, with flow-on effects impacting individuals, businesses, and communities. Often, the ripple effect sees costs soar, with ratios as high as 1:29. Before You Dig Australia (BYDA)   is at the forefront of addressing this escalating challenge. Through collaboration with industries, utility owners, and the construction sector, ...
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Elected members as stewards of community assets

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
By Steve Mooney Even before Owen Jackson became elected as a councillor at the Timaru District Council in New Zealand’s South Island, he had been involved in developing public infrastructure for his community. Jackson, whose daytime job is as a breakfast host and program director at Port FM radio in the South Island, was previously involved in developing a new playground at the iconic Caroline Bay, and it was there that he had his first experience in the challenges of asset management. “We had a very old playground there which was not really fit for purpose,” said Jackson. “And I came up with the idea of building a totally accessible playground which ...
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Sponsored Article by Thinkproject: Sustainable infrastructure through smart asset management.

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
Digital technology is rooted in innovation and rapid development. To drive economic, environmental, cultural, and social performance, we need technologies that connect and advance our industry to achieve sustainable outcomes for our communities, employees, and organisations. Innovation is accelerating our progression towards truly smart asset management. This article explores the emerging technologies enabling our industry to sustainably create and manage infrastructure and property assets, driving efficiencies throughout the asset lifecycle. These technologies aren’t necessarily new, however they’re at various stages of adoption and advancement, therefore ...
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Testimonial for the Professional Certificate In Asset Management

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
International Course by IPWEA  About participant  I have a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering. I have worked in many different roles in the field of traffic infrastructure assets. I have been involved in building, renewing and maintenance activities for the assets. My current role is to lead infrastructure asset maintenance contracts and projects for the City of Helsinki, Urban Environment Division.  Why did you decide to do a course offered by a professional organisation in Australia? How did you hear about the course?  I live and work in Finland, but I decided to do a course offered by professional organisation in Australia because I had seen ...
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Team Leader Asset Engineers, Lucille Yu on why she completed the Professional Certificate in Infrastructure Financial Management

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
When Lucille Yu graduated with a double degree in civil engineering and business (electronic commerce), she struggled to find work in the private sector. “If you want to graduate you need to do three months’ work experience which was hard to come by,” she says. A job came up at Hume City Council, where Lucille applied for a role as a student engineer within the Civil Design team, but she was quickly routed to the asset management team and has since been with the Council for over a decade.  “I didn’t plan to follow this path,” she says. “When I was studying, asset management wasn’t taught in university. The first time I heard about the field was at Hume City ...
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Scott Young wins the EJ Ted Hooper Medal

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
Scott Young is the National Technical Manager with Stabilised Pavements of Australia (SPA) and the Managing Director for Stabilised Pavements Malaysia (SPM). Scott is a Registered Professional Civil Engineer (RPEng & RPEQ) and holds a Masters degree in Pavement Technology. Scott has been in the stabilisation industry for 20 years and is a past President of Australia’s national association, AustStab. He is a current serving technical committee member of the REAAA Australian Chapter and Convenor of AustStab’s National Technical Working Group. His experience covers civil and geotechnical engineering, predominantly in pavements with areas of responsibility ...
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Krishna Shrestha wins the NAMie Award

By Anirudh Sharma posted 2 days ago
Originally hailing from Nepal, Krishna Shrestha CPEng Civil/Structural, MBA, Asso Prof started his professional career as a Lecturer in Structural Engineering at Kantipur Engineering College in Lalitpur, Nepal, before moving to Fuzhou University in China to complete his Ph.D in Structural Engineering. During that time Krishna worked as a lecturer, structural designer, site engineer and high level structural analyst. In 2011, Krishna moved to Australia with his wife, settling in the regional NSW town of Balranald and taking up the position of Infrastructure Engineer (Operational Engineer) with Balranald Shire Council in the New South Wales Riverina District. ...
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