Language and translations

You can have this page translated into our top 10 language groups.

Click the language drop-down in the top right corner of this page. It will have a picture of a world globe next to it.

If you do not speak one of these languages, contact the TIS on 131450.

Sight and hearing resources

A text document of this page content is available upon request if your screen reader is not compatible with this webpage.

If you have any other questions, concerns or requests to ensure this engagement is accessible for you, contact us at haveyoursay@knox.vic.gov.au or call 9298 8000.

How should Council manage community assets worth $1.88 billion?

Council has a budget of $689.69 million to manage community assets for the next 10 years, and we are developing our Asset Plan to guide how we do this.

Community assets are at the heart of what we do. We need assets to deliver services that are valued and needed by our growing and diverse community.

Council manages a large portfolio of community assets, including buildings, roads, footpaths, sporting facilities, drainage systems, bushland, and playgrounds.

Over the last year we have been developing our Council Plan, Health and Wellbeing Plan and the Financial Plan with the community panel. This work defines our service priorities and financial conditions that will inform how we manage our assets into the future.

Over April and May a representative group of residents have formed the Asset Plan Community Panel to help plan Knox’s future. Through the process. members of the community panel have had the opportunity to work closely with Council to understand the dilemmas we are facing when balancing identified community priorities and long-term financial sustainability.

A report on the Asset Plan Community Panel process and feedback is being prepared and it is anticipated this report will be available in late June 2025. The feedback of the Panel will inform the development of Council's Asset Plan 2025 – 2035 and be considered by Council when making decisions on long term asset management.

More information

Council manages a large and diverse portfolio of community assets worth $1.88 billion (excluding land value). This includes:

  • buildings (e.g. civic centre, libraries, community centres, public toilets, pre-school, sporting pavilions), heating and cooling systems, solar panels
  • roads, bridges, car parks
  • footpaths, shared pathways, accessibility needs (e.g. ramps)
  • playground equipment, park seats and other furniture
  • trees and vegetation, bushland, sites of biological significance
  • sporting fields, playing courts
  • drains, stormwater quality devices

The Asset Plan provides strategic direction on how Council cost-effectively manages the large portfolio of community assets to meet evolving community needs.

We are developing a new Asset Plan 2025-2035 to guide how we manage community assets into the future. For the next 10 years, Council has a budget of $689.69 million to manage community assets. The plan will detail principles on how Council will use, maintain, build, acquire and dispose infrastructure assets.

The plan must address the minimum standard required for our assets to ensure we meet legal, compliance and safety standards.

Beyond the minimum standards, the plan considers discretionary items such as the capital works programs, renewal works and service levels to be variables. Community panel members will be able to influence how budget is allocated for these items.

A community panel is a group of randomly selected people that generally represents the demographic makeup of a community. Panel members will learn and discuss topics important to the community. The Panel will work with Council to develop draft recommendations for the Asset Plan.

Here is a quick video about a Community Panel we ran in 2023, while it was a different conversation you can get an idea of the experience from past participants.

Over the last year we have been developing our Council Plan, Health and Wellbeing Plan and the Financial Plan. The Strategies define our service priorities and financial conditions that will inform how we manage our assets into the future. This work was informed by broad community engagement as well as a community panel that met four times to develop recommendations for Council to consider when drafting these strategies. You can read more about this engagement on the Our Knox page.

Timeline

  • Timeline item 1 - complete

    Expression of interest for community panel open

    Monday 24 February to 16 March 2025

  • Timeline item 2 - complete

    Community panel session 1

    6pm to 8pm Wednesday 16 April 2025

  • Timeline item 3 - complete

    Community panel session 2

    6pm to 8pm Wednesday 7 May 2025

  • Timeline item 4 - incomplete

    Draft Asset Plan presented to Council meeting for consideration

    Anticipated June 2025

Contact us

Find out more about the Asset Plan.

Contact Information
Name Matt Hanrahan
Phone 03 9298 8137
Email matthew.hanrahan@knox.vic.gov.au
In writing

511 Burwood Highway, Wantirna South VIC 3152.