Planning for the Future

The Integrated Planning and Reporting framework and Guidelines were introduced in Western Australia as part of the State Government’s Local Government Reform Program. Integrated planning and reporting gives local governments a framework for establishing local priorities and to link this information to operational functions. All local governments are required to produce a plan for the future under S5.56 (1) of the Local Government Act 1995.

Adopting Integrated Planning is potentially the most important performance improvement initiative available to local governments. A successful integrated planning process will deliver the following outcomes:

• A Strategic Community Plan which is a 10+ year time frame reviewed every four years that clearly links the community’s aspirations with the Council’s vision and long term strategy.
• A Corporate Business Plan that integrates resourcing plans and specific Council plans with the Strategic Community Plan. This is reviewed annually to deliver the Annual Budget.
• A clearly stated vision for the future viability of the local government area.

There are many stages in the integrated planning process, including but not limited to:

• Research
• Community Engagement
• Meetings
• Operational Plans
• Annual Reporting

There are three major parties to the development of an integrated strategic plan:

• The Community – participates in a community planning process to determine major vision or intended big picture directions and also participates in regular reviews of those directions.
• The Council – signs off the Strategic Community Plan resulting from the community planning process, the four year reviews updating that plan and the Annual Budget.
• The Local Government Administration – supports delivery of the Strategic Community Plan, the four yearly reviews and Annual Budget through its corporate business planning.

Each party has a unique role and responsibilities for effective and sustainable integrated planning.

The local government CEO facilitates the integrated planning process and:

• Ensures the process is transparent and has a genuine and stated aim of delivering the aspirations of the community;
• Assists Council to develop services, operations and activities to fulfil community aspirations; and
• Plays a significant leadership role in establishing an organisational culture that:

• Delivers sustainable community outcomes through effective corporate governance and resource capability;
• Develops and implements asset management, long-term financial and workforce plans; and
• Supports robust strategy evaluation with regular reporting to the community.

The elected members of Council set the local government’s strategic and operational directions by working to understand community aspirations and desired outcomes as well as the local government’s capacity to deliver these. The Council aims to determine affordable, realistic and achievable priorities.

The community is an active partner in realising the local government’s future.

• Local governments are ultimately accountable to the communities they serve.
• It is the future vision, aspirations and service needs and expectations of the range of communities within a local government area which informs the local government’s direction and operations.
• By examining Corporate Business Plan priorities and reviewing local government performance via Annual Reports and other communications, communities also ensure that the local government is making adequate progress.

Want to view the Shire's Annual Report (a summary of the Shire's progress on the Community & Corporate Business Plans for the financial year)? Click here!