Integration of Land Use and Asset Management Planning, a paper by Kim Fowler
Note to Readers:
During the November-December 2010 period, the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia released a set of five explanatory documents that were designed to inform local governments and others about a ‘course correction’ for Integrated Stormwater Management Plans (ISMPs).
The fourth in the series introduced the ‘infrastructure deficit’ (i.e. ‘infrastructure liability’) as a driver for the ISMP Course Correction. It connected the dots to Asset Management as a way to re-focus the ISMP process on what really matters. An extract is reproduced below. To download a copy of the complete story, click here.
Sustainable Service Delivery: Need for Local Governments to be Nimble, Collaborative and Integrated
“Land use planning in British Columbia may be significantly improved when integrated with asset management planning in local governments,” wrote Kim Fowler, a former Director of 
Sustainability for the City of Victoria, in her 2010 paper titled “Local Government Land Use and Asset Management Planning in BC: Proposed Sustainable Service Improvements”.
Kim Fowler was also a member of the Local Government Asset Management Working Group that was the forerunner of Asset Management BC.
Land Use Planning is the Key Determinant
“If the necessity, goal, and best practice of asset management is an integrated approach involving planning, finance, engineering and operations effectively managing existing and new infrastructure, then how should this occur? How do local governments ensure the full service life is reached and have mechanisms to enable their replacement? And why are planners the least knowledgeable of the local government professionals about asset management when land use planning is the key determinant for infrastructure demand and servicing?”
“The legislative requirements for integration of land use planning and asset management, including financial management, are already mandated. So why is this not commonly happening?”
Improve the Resiliency of Communities
“The accelerating pace of change in our communities will continue, requiring local governments to become much more nimble, collaborative and integrated with a long-term focus. Each local government may determine where to start based on its particular circumstances, whether that be an asset management policy or plan, corporate strategic plan or long-term financial plan but the longer these plans are delayed, the more drastic the following measures will be in order to survive financially:
- Lowering of service levels;
- Reduction or elimination of some assets;
- Challenging risk acceptance limits;
- More partnerships, particularly with private capital investment; and
- More user pay charges.”
“The change is here, and it is accelerating. Local governments have an opportunity to adapt and mitigate these changes and improve resiliency of our communities within existing legislative authority and current best practices,” concludes Kim Fowler.
To Learn More:
The foregoing is an extract. To download a PDF of the complete story, click on Story #4 in the ISMP Course Correction Series: Move to a Levels-of-Protection Approach to Sustainable Service Delivery.
To download a copy of the paper written in 2010 by Kim Fowler, click on Local Government Land Use and Asset Management Planning in BC: Proposed Sustainable Service Improvements.
To access and download the complete set of five documents in theISMP Course Correction Series, click here.
