The plant and vehicle holdings savings

Tamworth Regional Council started conducting major and minor reviews of all plant and fleet holdings since 2006. Those reviews cover plant utilisation rates, efficient distribution and value optimisation through use or dispose. that could be utilized across other divisions in Council to increase utilization and improve scheduling.

As a result of the initial review, 25 items were sold outright, including tractors, graders, tipper trucks, excavators, trucks and backhoes that were being under- utilised.

Continued reviews happen annually to identify any poorly utilised equipment and to decide if any changes are required. Where the cause of low utilisation is identified as low demand, poor size matching, vandalism, age, or high operational cost the item is investigated further to determine if there is a suitable alternative that could potentially be used across other divisions or jobs in Council. Alternatively, replacement or disposals are considered to improve performance instead of Council owning and maintaining at a high cost a poorly utilised piece of equipment.

Due to improvements in work practices and efficiency over the years, the hiring of external equipment such as graders, excavators, trucks and backhoes has been reduced. We continue to monitor the value for money of utilising Council owned plant as opposed to leased equipment and make changes accordingly.

Reduction in rates charged on Council-owned properties

195 Council-owned properties are now being classified as “non-rateable”. These properties are from all over the Local Government Area with 62 properties in the Tamworth business area. The properties are being used for a variety of purposes being administration buildings, waste depots, water purification plants and sewer treatment plants.