SOUTH Gippsland Shire Council’s Draft Asset Plan 2025 to 2035 highlights the need for more detailed consideration of what approach council will take to managing the large building portfolio for which it has responsibility, including how it will downsize that portfolio.

Council has repeatedly stressed that the more than 400 buildings it has responsibility for is too substantial given the financial constraints under which it operates, noting the need for consolidation and sharing of facilities.

While that makes sense in an economic fashion, it is not easy to achieve as demonstrated by the ongoing and much-reported Korumburra Senior Citizens Club saga and that related to the town’s Grow Lightly group, the impact on people adding complication to the equation.

The need for consolidation is driving initiatives such as the building of the Korumburra Community Hub and the current work being done to establish the viability of creating a Leongatha Community Hub at the town’s Memorial Hall that may incorporate a relocated library.

 “We are creating a long-term investment plan for our assets to ensure they are fit for purpose, delivering necessary services that meet community expectations and are affordable to ratepayers,” council’s Interim CEO Allison Jones said.

She stressed that council wants to look at its portfolio and work out whether needs are being balanced across all of its communities and if buildings are being used to their full potential.

Council is focused on developing a Sustainable Building and Asset Management Strategy, expecting that extensive project to take a couple of years, with implementation of that strategy to follow.

A key focus for now is an assessment of assets council manages but doesn’t own.

In due course, there’ll be service reviews in relation to assets and further asset data collection, with a review of Asset Management Systems to be conducted.