BUSH ENGINEERING

Tony Brun

Director of Engineering Services

Town of Narrogin

Bush Engineering What’s this all about?

• aim of the paper is to identify what is the best course of action in terms of engineering and construction service delivery in smaller rural areas

• this has been done through a study tour of eastern states rural local government , funded through an IMEA Fellowship

• discussions held with US, UK, European and South African engineers over the Net

The Narrogin Background

• Narrogin is made up of a Town and Shire Council, which both had their own separate work forces up to January 1997

• A joint meeting in May 1996 resolved to form a single work force

• The aim was to have a Regional Council as the service provider by July 1997 (this has since been deferred to July 1998)

The Narrogin Background

• the combination of the work forces has allowed for the dispersal of sundry plant

• on-site performance has improved markedly in terms of quality and quantity

• administration of the unit is still separate and cumbersome and has some way to go, with all pays, accounts, budgets, etc. all totally separate

Narrogin - Plant Changes

Town Shire Combined Future

1xGrader 3xGraders 3xGraders 3xGraders

1xLoader 1xLoader 2xLoaders 1xLoader

1xBackhoe 1xBackhoe 2xBackhoe 1xBackhoe

• Potential plant saving grader, loader and backhoe with an approximate replacement value of $520,000

• Additional plant purchased jointly 2 x multi-tyre rollers and a self propelled vibrating roller

Narrogin - Structure

Wheatbelt South Area

• 19 Local Governments within 100 km radius of Narrogin (only including Local Governments in Wheatbelt South region)

• 3,201 km of sealed roads

• 13,884 km of gravel roads

• combined engineering budget (mostly roads) in the order of $12.4M

• Regional Road Group budget of $2.45M

Wheatbelt South Area

• one engineer in area

• limited use of RoMan and no other asset or maintenance management systems in place

• no adoption of quality systems for design, construction or maintenance

Main Roads • Use Local Government as provider of

construction & maintenance services at lower end (projects <$500M)

• scheme only for rural & regional areas

• Local Government to be used as training ground for MRWA engineers on the above projects

• increase turnover of Local Government works and to ensure local employment

Water & Sewerage• Councils in Qld identified Water &

Sewerage as being a major source of revenue through cross subsidy

• transfer of water & sewerage infrastructure to Local Government

• State Government to retain control on Regional distribution and standards

• broader revenue base for Local Government & Engineering budgets

Direction - where to from here?• broad scaled resource sharing or

amalgamation in smaller rural areas

• partnership arrangements for service delivery of Main Roads programmes

• transfer of water & sewerage infrastructure to Local Government

• the utilisation of modern management techniques including asset, maintenance and quality systems in rural areas

Engineers’ Role in Reform

• Engineers have the responsibility for the greater part of local infrastructure

• Engineers should take the leading role in reform and not leave the process to “bean counters”

• The present offers the best opportunity ever for Engineers to become the leaders in Local Government

Shire of Dryandra ?

Population - 15,600 Revenue - $19.5M Area - 19,600 sq.km

THE END

Narrogin Town Hall and Townscape Redevelopment

Country Style Living