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Accommodation strategy for assets

An amalgamation of two Councils - each with its own set of major assets such as civic buildings, depots and staff accommodation - involves dealing with the passionate attachments of their respective communities. But it is essential to avoid duplication of assets because they will become severely under utilised and in the end prevent the realisation of the operational and financial efficiencies of amalgamation.

The City of Playford endorsed the long term accommodation strategy as a two part process: firstly the proposed methodology to achieve the consolidation of staff and assets, and secondly how the strategy would be funded.

The rationale behind retention and redevelopment of any staff accommodation asset was based on the needs of the service delivery of the organisation and on the desire to break down the traditional divide between the inside workforce and outside workforce. This involved drawing a vertical line through the organisation and creating front of office staff and back of office staff.

Front of office would only consist of customer service officers and staff the community engage with face to face on a daily basis, such as planners. These staff would be located in the Civic Centre which is located within the Regional Centre precinct and provides the highest level of accessibility. The majority of staff, including the Mayor and Chief Executive Officer, would be based with field staff at a secondary location. The result is an organisation which has consolidated the majority of its diverse functions on one site and will realise a much higher level of operational efficiency than the traditional model that separates the depot and administrative offices.

The funding was to be achieved by the sale of the former civic buildings of both Councils which in turn dictated the project budget and scope of works.

The intended consolidation site was subjected to a 20 year master planning exercise involving representatives from all departments of Council and key external agencies that interface with Council. This master plan has determined the base principles for the current construction project and will guide Council's built asset decisions on the site for the next two decades.

The built form can assist with culture change and the new administration building has initiated many operational practice reviews all aimed at improved efficiency and communication throughout Council.

Another key outcome desired from this project was the construction of an administrative building that exceeded the current environmental standards of suburban office complexes.

All new areas of the building would achieve a level five Green Star rating, with an overall rating exceeding level four (existing structures were being refurbished).

The completion of the fully consolidated Davoren Park Service Centre will signal the final evolution of the amalgamation process.

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