Community input and ideas for the Community and Council Plans (2020-21) and Financial Prioties (2022) helped shape the draft Asset Management Plan. Community engagement for the draft Asset Management Plan was undertaken throughout May 2022.

The Asset Management Plan outlines how we will acquire, build, look after, and use infrastructure assets over the next 10 years and beyond to ensure they meet our community’s needs now and into the future. It is a new requirement under the Local Government Act 2020 that we do this and is an integral part of strategic planning to ensure we achieve our community vision.


Online Engagement for the draft Plan

We received 35 responses on the HaveYourSay digital platform, with additional feedback on our social media channels. The common themes from the responses across all questions were:

Key feedback included

  • The importance of protecting indigenous vegetation and wildlife, planting local fauna, and continuing to combat invasive plants and foliage
  • The importance of environmental design principles within building design. Specifically focusing on maximising natural canopy cover, green corridors, and street trees as well as the preservation of open spaces, bushlands, and wetlands
  • The importance of public open spaces and their value into the future with increasing urban development planned
  • More cleverly integrating infrastructure with its natural context to minimise visual impact
  • The need for the environment, and the prevention of climate change, are primary considerations within design and construction
  • A necessity for a stronger focus on universal access within asset design for a more inclusive and equitable community that goes beyond disabled access compliance
  • The promotion of environmentally friendly construction through increased utilisation of recycled materials and repurposing disposed of assets
  • The significance of Water Sensitive Urban Design principles within stormwater management, decreasing runoff and simultaneously reducing the toll on the stormwater network
  • Greater transparency around Council’s funding criteria and allocation, in regards to renewal, maintenance, capital funding
  • Continued understanding of the value that Council’s bicycle and shared pathway network provides to the community
  • Continued improvement of Knox’s Strategic Cycling Corridors (SCC) to deliver safer, more direct cycling into and across Melbourne and Victoria
  • Required investigation of car parking issues at various areas in Knox


Improving the Plan based on your feedback

Various changes have been made throughout the Asset Management Plan based on the feedback received during the public exhibition process.

In summary

  • Updated plan to place further importance on the preservation of Knox’s natural and bushland areas, continue and further the use of modern design principles/WSUD infrastructure
    • Kerb & channel cut-outs, bio retention basins, swales
    • GPTS
    • Canopy cover, green corridor, indigenous plants
  • Expanded description and increased transparency around renewal funding
  • Continue work expanding Knox’s Strategic Cycling Corridors (SCC) and outline current and future projects in Asset Management Plan
  • Detail Knox’s current climate change responses and link to relevant plans

Community responses and requests have been distributed to relevant Council departments for actioning and those within the immediate scope of the plan will be reflected in the plan.

Comments

“The use of local indigenous flora should be used whenever possible to soften the effect of the pathway, provide shelter and shade along the network and to provide habitat for local faunal species.”

“We are so lucky to have wildlife in our backyards, and need to protect them from extinction”

“There needs to be more sporting activities, community house activities and education around neurodiverse people, especially ASD and kids who struggle with social anxiety or including themselves.”

“Building in water sensitive urban design principles into their design and construction. Things like redesigning the standard curb and channel designs so that water is used to water street trees and bush boulevards. Carparks have WSUD create vegetation spaces that use and filter runoff reducing the storm water flows.“